Mass Effect Choice and Consequence
by judodave
Summary: It was meant to be a normal night for two C-Sec officers on the wards, however a chance encounter with a young Quarian would turn the week into an eventful one. Complete! Sequel coming up!
1. Not so normal day on the wards

It was a typical day in the docking area for the Citadel's Tayseri Ward as several civilians from different races waited to be scanned before they were allowed onto the ward, or at least it started that way.

"Next!" The human female C-Sec officer called out as the two Asari she just scanned walked through the doors on the other side of the scanner. _"Get a job at C-Sec they said, it'll be fun they said, I should've read that advert closer." _She thought with a frown as the next civilian stepped into the scanner. "Huh, don't get many Quarians these days."

"We have been busy on our homeworld." The young female Quarian responded with a nervous laugh, she was quite short and her suit was red and black in colour, the officer shrugged her shoulders as she started imputing commands on her console. "Err…."

"Don't worry, the scanners won't bite or affect your suit mam." The officer reassured her as the scanners passed over the Quarian, however the Quarian's nervousness made her suspicious when the alarms went off. "What the…."

"_Oh Keelah, I just knew this was going to happen." _The Quarian thought as she turned to the officer. "Is there a problem?"

"You tell me Reya." The officer responded as she read the report and the Quarian, now known as Reya, gulped. "Seems you did some time for hacking a couple of years ago but was let out early?"

"It's a long story." Reya responded as she rubbed the back of her helmet nervously. "I may have been let out early but I served my time and paid my debt to society."

"That may be but it doesn't explain you leaving the Citadel shortly after you were released, in fact it says here you got on a shuttle that took you to the Terminus System." The officer responded and Reya sighed.

"I had trouble getting employment when I first moved here and it was even harder when I got out of jail." Reya responded as she folded her arms. "I thought I'd have better luck out in the Terminus and whilst I did make a decent amount of money out there I was ashamed of what I had to do back then so I returned hoping to make a decent living for once."

"_Can't say I don't sympathize with her but is she worth Commander Baily's wrath?" _The officer thought before reading her bio again. "_No history of violence as far as I can see but this doesn't account for her time in the Terminus Systems, screw it, if Commander Baily raises a stink about it I'll be ready to defend myself." _The officer decided before pressing another button and the doors on the far end opened again. "You can go through, just try to stay out of trouble."

"Really? Thanks." Reya responded gratefully before walking through the scanners and exiting out the other end, the officer called for the person behind Reya to enter the scanner next but she paid no attention to it though judging by the heavy steps that she could hear a mile away it was likely an Elcor. _"I made it! I'm on the Citadel! Maybe now I'll be free from my pursuers." _Reya thought as she walked down the street and looked around, she got nervous when some shifty looking people looked her way but they returned to whatever it was they were doing. _"I think I should relax before I try to get a permanent residence, maybe there's a bar where I can get a drink so something?"_

*meanwhile*

One such bar on the Ward was Trikaro's, a Turian owned establishment that was popular with criminals from all walks of life whether they be mercs or petty thieves, and in some cases it also attracted C-Sec officers.

"_Where is he?" _A young (for her species) Asari thought as she took another sip from her drink, to the other patrons see looked like most Asari, drop dead gorgeous, blue skin and weird tentacle like hair at the back of her head, who was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and looked out of her element, anyone who tried anything with her however quickly found out the truth the hard way.

Her name was Anola Tr'Santi and she was a C-Sec officer working undercover trying to catch a murder suspect at the bar, having worked on Thessia, the Asari's homeworld, for a number of years before she moved to the Citadel she had plenty of experience as a cop but in C-Sec's eyes she was still a rookie.

"_I swear if he doesn't show up soon I'm ordering something alcoholic." _Anola thought as she glanced around the mostly male patrons who were hanging around the bar, a couple of the thugs had caught her eye including a known Krogan mercenary by the name of Urdnot Krek and other persons of interest, however she shook her head at the idea of getting drunk. _"What would any of my family members say if they knew that I even considered getting drunk on the job? And besides, knowing these guys there are a lot of ways that drinking too much could end badly for me."_

"Is this seat taken miss?" Anola looked up when she heard the familiar Turian voice and saw the man she had been waiting for, he was a tall Turian with white facial markings who was dressed more formerly than the Asari which only made him stand out more.

"It is now handsome." Anola responded with a grin making sure that the other patrons heard her and she couldn't help but let her grin grew wider when she overheard what the other patrons were calling her partner, the grin disappeared when she turned to him however. "What took you so long Varnus? You're lucky our suspect hasn't shown up yet!" Anola whispered and Varnus shook his head.

"Sorry Officer Tr'Santi, you know how bad the Citadel Traffic can get this time of night." Varnus, Anola's partner in C-Sec, responded as he leaned forward. "And knowing this place's reputation I'm sure there are a few others that we could be interested in."

"Yeah, a couple, I spotted Urdnot Krek at the bar when I went to get my drink and that's just one example." Anola responded as she pointed out the hulking Krogan at the bar. "Most of the other patrons are scared shitless of him."

"Knowing his reputation I can't blame them." Varnus responded as he shook his head. "Our guy will show up and once he does our informant will keep him occupied."

"I hope your right, there's only so many leers I can take from them." Anola grunted as she motioned towards the other patrons. "It would be a lot more tolerable if I could drink on the job, that's all I'm saying."

"If I had a credit chit for every time I thought the same thing, whether it's during an assignment for C-Sec or the Turian Millitary, I could retire early and live a comfortable life." Varnus responded with a chuckle and Anola shook her head, the door to the bar opened up and Varnus looked up seeing Reya enter the bar and sit down at a booth not far from them. "Anola…."

"I thought the report said we were looking for a tall human male, not a short Quarian female?" Anola asked as she looked over at Reya. "And I thought I stuck out like a sore thumb."

"We are and you do but that's not the point, I don't recognize that Quarian and she seems to be a little young to be in a place like this." Varnus responded as he glanced at her. "This has me concerned."

"I'm just surprised that you can guess her age with that suit and all." Anola commented and Varnus shook his head.

"I know you haven't worked with many Quarians but I have, trust me, I know what to look out for." Varnus responded before looking at the bar. "I'm going to get myself a drink, can I get you anything?"

"Some excitement would be nice." Anola responded with an annoyed sigh. "We're on duty, take a wild guess."

"Non-Alcoholic it is." Varnus responded before standing up. "Whilst I'm at the bar run that girl's helmet through the system, just in case."

"You're really paranoid about her, aren't you?" Anola asked as she fired up her Onmi-Tool and whilst she inputted commands Varnus shook his head.

"Not so much paranoid as cautious." Varnus responded before walking towards the bar, he earned a glare from Krek when the Krogan spotted him but he ignored him. _"Krek hasn't spent much time on the Citadel, it's unlikely that he recognizes me." _Varnus thought before turning to the woman in the skimpy outfit who had approached him from behind the bar ready to take his order. "Two sodas, one dextro friendly."

"Coming right up." The woman responded before getting the drinks ready, once she served the drinks she leaned in. "Varnus, how much longer do I have to wait for this guy? I hate this outfit and I've lost count of the amount of times my ass has been slapped."

"I understand your frustration Amelia but don't worry, it shouldn't be too long now." Varnus responded and Amelia grinned in response.

"Why does bird boy get all the luck around here?!" A nearby drunk human male asked and Amelia rolled her eyes in response. "First that Asari at the booth and now her? Why don't you just take them both home with you and have some fun with them instead of making us all look bad."

"_For one thing my wife would have my head on a stick if I even thought about doing that." _Varnus thought before shaking his head. "Maybe because I actually treat women with respect? And besides, you don't need my help to look bad, take it from me." Varnus added and the other patrons laughed whilst Amelia barely suppressed a giggle, as he turned around he realized that someone was missing from the crowd. _"Where did Krek go? He normally spends his evenings at the bar drinking everyone else under the table." _Varnus thought as he looked around. "Did anyone see where Krek went?"

"Beats me, you'd think that big lug would be easier to spot." A nearby Batarian answered with a shrug and Varnus frowned. "He probably just went to the bathroom or something."

"Spirits help the toilet he decides to sit on." Varnus chuckled and the Batarian laughed in response, he returned to his seat where Anola was still scanning Reya's helmet not knowing that Krek was doing the same thing.

"Come on you piece of shit." Krek grunted as he glared at his onmi-tool. "This is why I don't bother with technology most of the time." He added before grinning as the info came up. "I thought I recognized that Quarian, easiest payday ever!"

"Any luck Anola?" Varnus asked and Anola shook her head.

"About as much luck as that drunk human at the bar." Anola responded as she looked up at Varnus. "The Wi-Fi connection in this place is crap, makes my old extranet service provider look as fast as a mass relay by comparison."

"That fast huh?" Varnus chuckled as he glanced over at Reya. "Amelia's getting even more impatient than you, I'm beginning to doubt that our guy will ever show up."

"Do you think he was tipped off?" Anola asked and Varnus shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Varnus responded as he spotted Krek emerging from the shadows but not towards the bar as he expected but rather towards Reya. _"What could he want with that Quarian?"_

"Reya'Dora nar Wera?" Krek asked as he approached her booth, before she could respond he reached behind him and grabbed a shotgun. "I'm about to redecorate this place with your brains!"

"Anola!" Varnus said urgently as Reya barely dodged out the way of the shotgun blast which caused the rest of the patrons to flee the bar, Anola quickly grabbed her sidearm and got into position alongside Varnus who grabbed his. "C-Sec! Drop your weapon now!"

"And here I was worried that this was going to be too easy!" Krek responded as he span around and fired at the two officers who ducked behind two overturned tables. "If you were smart you'd be pointing your guns at her, I can guarantee that the bounty on her head is five times as much credits as the two of you make yearly!"

"Cute, you've learned how to do basic math." Anola retorted only for the Krogan to fire again. "And besides, that's not how we operate and you know it Krek!" Anola shouted out in response before spotting that the staff where hiding behind the bar. _"Good, if this gets messy at least they won't get caught in the crossfire." _Anola thought before turning to Varnus. "Any sign of the Quarian?"

"She's hiding behind that booth over there but it doesn't provide much cover." Varnus responded as he got an idea. "How much time can you buy for me to get to her?"

"That depends on how long my shields can hold out and how quickly I can fire up a biotic attack." Anola responded as she ducked under another shotgun blast. "A better question is, do you really think you can get to her without him spotting you."

"You know what? Fuck you guys, I'm cashing in on that bounty!" Krek grunted before turning around and firing at Reya's position.

"We don't really have the luxury of debating the logistics of this plan!" Varnus responded as he glanced towards Reya. "Do what you can, I'll deal with the Quarian."

"Got it!" Anola responded with a nod before turning to Krek. _"How hard can it be? It's just a 500 pound Krogan armed with a shotgun." _Anola thought before coming out of cover and firing three shots at the Krogan, the first one took down his shields but even if all three bullets had hit they barely would've affected the large Krogan, that wasn't her intention anyway. "Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Find me someone my own size and I'll get back to you!" Krek responded before turning around and firing at Anola, the bullets hit Anola's shields but whilst it did damage them it wasn't enough to take them down. "Typical, C-Sec always gets the best stuff."

"When it comes to dealing with thugs like you we need the best." Anola responded as she started to fire up her biotics, however before she could launch her attack the Krogan charged at her at full speed, Anola tried to get a Lift off but Krek slammed into her knocking her to the ground before pointing his shotgun at her head whilst standing over her.

"It's a shame that I have to do this, I mean I originally only wanted to redecorate the walls with that Quarian's blood but now I have to mix in Asari and Turian blood too." Krek said sarcastically with a sadistic grin on his face. "Oh well, what can you do?"

"_Come on you bosh'tet." _Reya thought as she frantically typed away at her Onmi-Tool. _"If I don't sabotage that shotgun she'll be killed and enough people have died for my mistakes already."_

"Oh well, at least your funeral will be close casket due to the fact that you won't have a head anymore." Krek added before firing the shotgun and Anola closed her eyes….however no blast came as the shotgun failed to fire. "What the fuck?! I cleaned this thing this morning!"

"_Now's my chance!" _Anola thought as she fired up her biotics. "Hey Krek, you forgot something."

"What?!" The Krogan snapped at her as he turned his attention back to her but once he saw the distinctive blue glow off a biotic attack it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh shit…." Krek trailed off as he was sent flying by a Throw propelling him several feet in the air before crashing down atop a table destroying it in the process.

"Anola, are you hurt?" Varnus said as he rushed over to her side and helped her up.

"A five-hundred pound Krogan just ran me over, thankfully I had my shields up and they took most of the damage." Anola grunted in pain as she turned to her partner. "I'll take that over having my head blown off any day of the week, speaking of which…"

"I'll deal with Krek, you tend to the Quarian girl." Varnus responded before marching over to the downed Krogan with his gun drawn, the Krogan sat up slowly and Varnus took the opportunity to cuff him. "Urdnot Krek, you're under arrest for two counts of attempted murder, one to a C-Sec agent, you have the right to remain silent and anything you do say will be held against you in a court of law…."

"Blah, blah, blah, I've heard that so many times it's not even funny." The Krogan interrupted him with a grunt. "And I want a lawyer as soon as I get to C-Sec."

"Your choice but given the charges it might be worth co-operating with us." Varnus responded before turning to where the staff where hiding. "It's safe now, he won't hurt you." Varnus called out and the staff members stood up. _"If our guy was coming here then he definitely isn't now, still why would Krek attack a young Quarian girl like that?"_

"_I am not looking forward to writing this report." _Anola thought as she walked around the ruined remains of the bar, Varnus was busy making the call to C-Sec HQ and she could practically predict the meeting they would inevitably have with Commander Baily. _"Did that Quarian run off? I can't see her anywhere?" _Anola thought before something caught her eye, namely the distinctive shape of a Quarian's helmet poking out from behind one of the turned over tables. _"Scratch that." _Anola thought before holstering her gun and walking up to the table. "C-Sec, you can come out now Reya."

"O….okay." Reya responded as she stood up slowly. "I'm sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen." Reya said as she leaned against the wall. "That Krogan, is he dead?"

"He's alive but restrained, you don't have to worry about him." Anola responded and Reya breathed a sigh of relief. "Look, I know this is a tough time for you but I need you to come down to the station with me and Varnus, the Krogan said something about a bounty and in this part of the district you'd be safer with us."

"That I can agree with." Reya responded before noticing that Anola was clutching her side. "You're hurt!"

"Relax, in this line of work I've suffered much worse." Anola reassured her before wincing. "Doesn't mean that I won't be paying a visit to Huerta Memorial as soon as I can." Anola added as she approached Reya. "Officer Anola Tr'Santi, C-Sec, my partner over there is Officer Varnus Travekian."

"Reya'Dora nar Wera, currently unemployed." Reya responded as she stepped forward. "I know you have a lot of questions but I'd feel more comfortable talking about them at C-Sec HQ."

"Then it's a good thing that that's our next stop." Anola responded as Varnus approached them. "Will you need a lawyer?"

"You're kidding right? I could barely afford a drink here and I didn't even get to finish mine." Reya responded as she folded her arms and motioned with her head towards the shattered glass that one held her drink complete with the spilled liquid. "Besides, even if I could afford one I won't need one, if anything I need C-Sec's help and I know from experience that the quickest way to get your help is to co-operate."

"Then we'd better get you down to the station." Varnus responded as he approached the two women. "Krek is on his way to C-Sec as we speak but if you want to get your ribs looked at before our chat with him and the Quarian…."

"My name is Reya." Reya interrupted him and Varnus nodded.

"As I was saying, our chat with Krek and Reya then you're free to do so." Varnus corrected himself and Anola nodded.

"Get McKenna to look after her whilst I'm at Huerta Memorial, he's worked with Quarians before." Anola responded before turning to Reya. "Don't worry Reya, you'll be safe at C-Sec."

"If I had a credit chit for every time I heard a variation of that sentence over the past two years I could pay off any mercenary that comes after me." Reya sighed as Varnus approached her. "But I'll take your word for it." Reya added before walking off with Varnus.

"_She can't be older than eighteen, what could she have done to earn such a bounty?" _Anola thought as she watched the pair leave, she started making her way out of the wrecked bar herself and frowned. _"We may not have been able to find our murder suspect but it looks like we've stumbled on a mystery that's just as big."_


	2. Aftermath

Two hours had passed since the shoot-out and everyone was still reeling from the events from the patrons who had barely escaped the carnage at the bar to the Asari C-Sec officer who had been injured and nearly killed by the rampaging Krogan.

"Well Anola, I have good news." The Salarian doctor said as he entered the room Anola was in at Huerta Memorial Hospital on the wards. "You managed to escape the encounter with the Krogan with minor injuries to your ribs, surprising considering the size difference."

"The shields made up for the difference." Anola responded as she stood up with a wince. "How long will I be in pain for anyway?" Anola asked and the Salarian checked his notes.

"A couple of days, give or take, normally I'd say take it easy but knowing your job, well, I may as well ask you to jump from the Citadel to your home world, and yes, I do mean physically jump." The Salarian responded before he started writing on a Datapad. "So instead I'll give you a subscription for Pain Killers, just hand it in at the reception desk and the receptionist will see to it that you get your meds."

"Thanks doc." Anola responded before taking the Datapad from him. _"Doesn't matter how far the galaxy has come along or what species the doctor is, they always have to make their signature nearly impossible to read." _Anola thought before pocketing the Datapad. "Considering I've been run over by a Krogan whilst saving a Quarian from said Krogan your taking this surprisingly well."

"Salarians may be a short lived species, especially compared to yours, but I've been a doctor most of my life and I've seen a lot in this profession." The Salarian responded as the door to Anola's room opened. "I once treated a Volus who thought he could arm wrestle a Krogan based on an old human TV show he saw, believe he called it Game of Thrones, but that's nothing compared to the human couple who used medigel as anal lube, certainly one of the more, interesting, surgeries that has been carried out here."

"Yeah I'm just going to pretend that you left out that last part." Anola responded with a shudder and the Salarian chuckled. "Seriously, I wouldn't care how horny I got, medigel is the last thing I'd use for any type of lube."

"Well, this is an interesting conversation to walk in on." Varnus commented dryly and they looked up. "Varnus Travekian, I'm Anola's partner in C-Sec."

"Ah yes, she mentioned that she had some stuff to take care off back at C-Sec HQ." The Salarian responded as he checked his notes. "You'll be pleased to know that she can go, we've just been chatting away to pass the time."

"Indeed." Varnus commented with a nod as Anola walked up to him. "And I believe I know which character that Volus was inspired by, Tyrian Lancaster, a human midget with enough skill and cunning to make up for his size."

"You don't say?" The Salarian commented with a nod. "Might have to watch that some time."

"You should, it's a good show, once you get past the numerous scenes of blood, death and sex, sometimes at the same time." Varnus commented with a chuckle and Anola grinned.

"Sounds like a show my dad would love." Anola said with a grin and Varnus chuckled as the Salarian took a sip from a drink on his table.

"I'd expect nothing less from a thousand year old Krogan." Varnus responded and the Salarian spat out his drink.

"I'm sorry but a Krogan sired an Asari?" The Salarian asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do I even want to know how that came about?"

"Says the guy who just told me that someone was dumb enough to use medigel as Anal Lube." Anola pointed out and the Salarian nodded in defeat. "Besides, it's a lot more common than you think."

"I'm sure it is, anyway I think we should get going." Varnus responded before leading Anola out of the clinic, when she handed in the Datapad to the receptionist Varnus turned to her. "Sorry about saying that in front of the doctor."

"Its fine, I'm a lot less ashamed of it than I was when we first met." Anola responded as she folded her arms. "Besides, I'm one of few Asari who can claim that there's a chance my dad will still be around when I hit the matriarch stage so it's not all bad."

"I suppose." Varnus admitted with a nod. "A lot has happened whilst you were being treated, some stuff I can't discuss out in the open."

"What can you discuss?" Anola asked as she turned to him.

"Krek lawyered up as soon as we got him to C-Sec, by the time I left his public defence lawyer had just arrived." Varnus responded as he turned to her. "He may be a public defendant but I know him, he's a damn good lawyer."

"Let me guess, you want to handle the interrogation?" Anola asked and Varnus nodded.

"No offence but I'm better suited to deal with him, I'd offer to let you sit in but then there's Reya." Varnus responded and Anola frowned. "McKenna's been looking after her since she got to C-Sec but she isn't exactly chatty."

"Varnus, she's an eighteen year old who just got a shotgun pointed to her helmet, I can't really blame her." Anola responded and Varnus nodded. "Besides, she was comfortable around me so it makes sense that I'd handle the chat with her."

"That was what I was thinking." Varnus responded with a nod as the receptionist returned with Anola's pills. "Pain Killers?"

"The Datapad I gave her was a subscription from the doctor, it's all good." Anola responded as she pocketed the pills. "I'll read the instructions when I have some free time but I think we have more pressing issues."

"Right, the incident at the bar." Varnus nodded before leading her to the squad car, the two officers got in and Varnus started driving. "If you're worried about the debriefing, I already went over it with Bailey, he's not happy about what happened but he understands that we had to act in the defence of an innocent." Varnus said and Anola nodded with a sigh in relief, however when she saw the look on Varnus's face she frowned. "Except she's not all that innocent."

"Say again?" Anola asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I ran her prints at the station after she was printed in a clean room." Varnus responded as he activated a console and brought up her profile. "Her early years are fairly typical, she was born on a recycled Turian ship, her family moved to Rannoch during the Reaper War and two years ago she moved to the Citadel as part of her pilgrimage."

"Quarians still do those?" Anola asked with a look of confusion on her face. "I was under the impression that they were stopped after the Reaper War since it had become redundant?"

"Officially yes, but many Quarians, especially those who were young when the Reaper War started as is the case with Reya, embark on them for nostalgic purposes and for an excuse to see the galaxy." Varnus responded with a nod as he read through the file. "She flew under the radar for a few months after that before cropping up again when she was arrested as part of a gang making illegal AI."

"You'd think Quarians would know better about that." Anola commented with a frown. "AI experiments where what drove them from Rannoch in the first place."

"Setting aside the simplified explanation for the creation of the Geth you are correct, however I fear that Reya didn't have much of a choice." Varnus sighed sadly as he scrolled through the file. "Even after everything they did in the Reaper War many business on the Citadel and elsewhere are reluctant to hire them, worried about the costs of hiring a Quarian and such."

"She didn't have any family here?" Anola asked and Varnus shook his head.

"None on record, they are most likely still on Rannoch." Varnus responded before finding what he was looking for. "She got her initial sentence reduced for testifying against the gang leader, but she didn't spend long in prison even after that."

"What do you mean?" Anola asked as she leaned over. "She was let out early?"

"Yes, for testifying against a fellow inmate who killed a prison guard, after that she shows up in a police report about a shooting in a bar on Zekera Ward but then the trail ends after she boards a shuttle to Ilium." Varnus responded as he closed the console. "Come to think of it, doesn't one of your relatives work for Ilium's Police Force?"

"Yeah, my sister, different dad before you ask." Anola nodded in response. "We don't get to talk often due to the cost of long distance phone calls and the nature of our jobs but I can call her and see if she remembers Reya."

"It'll be a start at least, even after the Reaper War the Citadel and the Terminus Systems aren't exactly going to be trading any time soon." Varnus said as he closed the console and resumed driving. "But even then we still have to narrow down who put the bounty on her head and why."

"There's two possible suspects that spring to mind already, the guys she testified against." Anola said as she opened the console back up and looked up their names. "Krarner Yol was the guy who was in charge of the gang she was in, Volus right?"

"Yes and he's a dead end, literally." Varnus responded as he pointed to another tab that he had open and Anola switched over seeing Krarner's bio. "He barely lasted a week in prison before he pissed off a Krogan gang so much that they paid off a guard to look the other way whilst two Krogans held him down and the third forcibly removed his suit, needless to say the results where messy."

"I'd hate to think what he had done to piss them off so much to kill him like that." Anola thought out loud as she scrolled through the article and saw a crime scene photo, it looked like it took place in a shower and there was Volus blood and chunks of armour everywhere. "What happened to the Krogan? I'm guessing they survived."

"They did and they are currently on Death Row, the guard was fired and arrested once his involvement was discovered and he'll likely join them in the near future." Varnus responded as Anola closed the tab and looked through Reya's file. "If you're looking for the other person she testified against don't bother, she's a dead end as well."

"He's dead as well?" Anola asked and Varnus shook his head.

"No but her name isn't mentioned anywhere, I'd have to go through the court files to get a beat on that and we'd need a warrant first." Varnus responded and Anola frowned at that. "It's not exactly ideal but Commander Bailey did get in touch with the DA for a warrant to access the files but as we both know that can take a while."

"Almost makes you wish that we lived in the world of those old cowboy cop vids, doesn't it?" Anola asked half-jokingly and Varnus chuckled.

"I'd be lying if I said that it wouldn't be a lot more fun." Varnus nodded in response and Anola grinned. "One leverage we do have is Krek, mercenaries like him get jobs through contacts and rarely meet their potential employer unless they are opening up a mercenary group like the Eclipse, Blue Suns or Blood Pack."

"Krek is known to be a loner so the Omega 4 Relay will be a tourist destination before he joins a group like that." Anola commented and Varnus nodded.

"Exactly and I know what to use against him." Varnus responded as he opened up the console and showed Krek's profile. "When we booked him in we got around forty open warrant notifications that matched his name."

"The big guy's been busy." Anola commented as she folded her arms and Varnus nodded.

"And that was before I left, when I stopped outside Huerta Memorial Bailey called to tell me that a further twenty had come in." Varnus added as his expression darkened. "For the most part they are all typical mercenary stuff, extortion, murder, you name it, Krek's done it, but the last notification caught my attention."

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like where this is going?" Anola asked and Varnus nodded.

"If you think that's bad, I was one of the officers working the case, at first it seemed fairly innocent, a few young women and Asari had been going missing over the past few months and the trails ended up cold each time." Varnus said as he sighed. "That is until we busted a major slaving operation on the Citadel, specializing in sex slaves."

"Goddess….." Anola trailed off with a look of disgust on her face. "Please tell me you saved them all?"

"I wish I could but at least half the girls where already off world by that point, we are working closely with a Spectre to track them down but it'll take time." Varnus responded as he scrolled down. "My point is that the slaving group hired a few mercenaries to work security and keep the girls in line, not to mention "take them for a test ride"."

"I'd rather not know what that's a euphemism for." Anola responded with a shudder. "Let me guess, Krek was one of the mercenaries."

"Yes but he wasn't among the mercenaries arrested, I would've arrested him at the bar but that would've blown our cover and we were still looking for Jared Black at the time." Varnus responded as he closed the console. "Everyone involved got life without parole, the DA wasn't going to take any plea deals for this case, and under normal circumstances Krek would join them."

"Except he's got all those other charges against him including the attempt on Reya." Anola responded and Varnus nodded. "He'd be lucky if he just got the death penalty for that."

"And his lawyer knows it, the lawyer will try to get the charges dropped against Krek in exchange for the info but the DA won't accept that, the best I can do is say that I'll put in a good work for him." Varnus added and Anola frowned.

"About what? Telling bad jokes whilst he has a shotgun pointed at my head?" Anola asked and Varnus shook his head.

"It won't matter because the DA won't listen the moment he realizes that Krek was involved in the slaving operation but if it helps this case I'll think of something." Varnus responded and Anola nodded with a frown, a few minutes passed and the cop car rolled to a stop outside C-Sec HQ and the two officers got out. "McKenna's at her station, Reya should be there as well."

"Good luck with Krek, I think you'll need it." Anola responded before walking off, Varnus shook his head before turning to another Turian C-Sec Officer.

"Urdnot Krek is in interrogation room number three." The Turian said apparently overhearing the conversation between Varnus and Anola. "His lawyer's with him."

"Off course he is." Varnus sighed as he glanced towards the third interrogation room. "Who did Krek get as his lawyer again?"

"A Salarian public defence lawyer called Trolik Carverse." The Turian responded and Varnus frowned when he heard that.

"_Carverse, great, he's got one of the best public defence lawyers in Citadel Space working with him." _Varnus thought before nodding. "Thank you officer and please see to it that I have a cup of coffee ready when I'm done, I'm going to need it."

"Off course, I know what Carverse is like." The Turian nodded before walking off and Varnus entered the interrogation room, Krek was strapped in and Carverse was standing beside him.

"Well, well, you make us wait all this time and you finally show up." Trolik said with a frown as the door closed. "If I didn't know any better I'd say that you were trying to drag this out."

"My apologies, I had to pick up my partner from the hospital after her run in with your client." Varnus responded and Trolik frowned whilst Krek scoffed. "Something funny Krek?"

"If it weren't for that Quarian you'd still be picking up your partner's brain matter and yet you complain about picking her up from the hospital." Krek commented with a grin as Varnus glared at him. "You officers have your priorities screwed up, I know you were there for Black."

"How did you know that?!" Varnus demanded as he walked towards the Krogan. "That mission was top secret."

"I had you two marked as officers before you even drew your guns and even if I didn't Jared wouldn't have shown up anyway." Krek said with a smirk. "Jared knew that C-Sec was going to come after him eventually, I'm not saying that I paid for his shuttle off world but I did strongly suggest it to him."

"And I'm strongly suggesting that you don't say another word." Trolik interrupted him and Krek glared at him before grunting in annoyance. "I'm not stupid detective, I know you want to know who put that bounty on the young Quarian's head and my client would be willing to tell you who gave him the contract if the attempted murder charges were dropped."

"And we both know that it's ultimately the DA who has the final say in that." Varnus responded and Trolik nodded reluctantly. "But whilst we're on the subject of charges something interesting came up whilst we were processing your client."

"Define interesting." Trolik responded as Krek's eyes narrowed.

"Enough open warrants to put him away for the entirety of his life-span." Varnus said before handing him a datapad with the info on it. "I'll save you some reading, most of it is standard fare for a mercenary like Krek."

"Yes, I can see that." Trolik nodded as he read through the file. "What's the offer?"

"There isn't one." Varnus responded earning a raised eyebrow from Trolik. "Scroll down to the very last open warrant, it's the difference between your client getting life without parole or the death penalty."

"What are you talking about?!" Krek demanded as Trolik scrolled through the datapad, Krek leaned in to read over his lawyer's shoulder and scoffed. "You can't prove that I was involved in that slavery ring."

"Wrong, I was one of the officers working that case and your fingerprints were all over the HQ and on some of the girls." Varnus said as his eyes narrowed. "The women we could save are still in therapy for what they went through under your employer."

"Yes and said employer is on Death Row, what's your point?" Trolik asked and Varnus glared at him.

"If your client tells us who gave him the contract on the Quarian's head and where the girls who were sold where shipped off too then I'll put in a good word with the DA." Varnus responded and Krek scoffed.

"Is that the best you can do? We lost track of those girls the moment they left Citadel Space." Krek responded as Varnus turned to him. "They could be anywhere in the Terminus Systems and we both know that that isn't a small area of the galaxy! And besides, I stick to my own species when it comes to sex and those fingerprints on the girls where probably from shoving them along."

"You know who's working closely with us to find those girls? A Council Spectre, now he hasn't had much luck with finding them in spite of the limitless resources that he has at his disposal but the info you give us can give him a solid lead." Varnus responded as Krek went to respond. "Or would you prefer it if I gave him a call? Let him handle the interrogation from here? Once he knows that you were involved with the slaving operation, well, the results will be messy."

"You think you're so smart don't you?" Krek asked sarcastically as he glared at the Turian. "Fuck this, I only took that job because it was the highest paying job available at the time! I accept."

"Good." Varnus said as Trolik handed over the datapad. "Make no mistake, the only time you'll see the outside world from now on is when you are in the exercise yard but if this works out in your favour you'll at least live to see the end of your natural life-span."

"And by then you'll be a pile of bones in the ground and that Asari will be even hotter." Krek scoffed as Varnus ignored him. "Go to Steele's Bar and Grill on the lower end of the wards, look for Cameron Jacobs, he'll tell you what you need to know."

"I know him, last time I arrested him he was a red sand junkie willing to rob defenceless Quarians in order to get his next score." Varnus remembered as he looked at the Krogan. "How did he get from that to being a mercenary contact?"

"Whoever's employing him must've given him enough money to satisfy his addiction." Trolik responded before motioning to the door. "Now if you excuse me I have things to go over with my client, you get no prizes for guessing what those things are." Trolik added and Varnus nodded.

"Understood councillor, enjoy your client cussing you out for what your species did to his." Varnus added before he went to leave the room, however before he did he glanced over his shoulder. "Oh and Krek?"

"What?!" Krek demanded and Varnus chuckled.

"I do think I am quite intelligent." Varnus commented and Krek glared daggers at him as the Turian left the interrogation room. _"That was a lot less painful than I originally thought it would be, wonder if Anola's had any luck."_

*meanwhile*

"_You would think that finding McKenna's desk would get easier." _Anola thought to herself as she walked through the hallways, McKenna was a part of C-Sec's Cyber Crime unit and had, ironically, been a major part of the arrest that led to Reya's current predicament, still since C-Sec often employed Quarians to maintain their machines it made sense to send Reya to her. _"Then again it's not like I interact with her much since I'm in the homicide division, it's not like killers use computers to kill people." _Anola thought before spotting McKenna. "McKenna."

"Oh hi Anola." McKenna greeted the Asari as she entered the computer room, the blonde haired Scottish C-Sec agent looked up at Anola with a grin. "What can I do you for?"

"Any Quarians around?" Anola asked and McKenna sighed before pointing out the several Quarians fixing computers. "What happened this time?"

"Some Krogan got drunk last night and broke in, we still don't know the details." McKenna responded as she shook her head. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"Red and black suit, young, female, involved in a shootout involving a money hungry Krogan." Anola responded and McKenna nodded.

"Oh you mean Reya? I would've thought she would be chatting with the other Quarians who weren't busy but nope." McKenna responded before motioning Anola to come around her desk and she did so, Reya was sitting in her own chair fiddling around with her onmi-tool. "Hasn't exactly spoke much either."

"She was almost killed back there." Anola pointed out and McKenna nodded.

"Aye, and that's rough." McKenna agreed as she glanced at Reya. "Some of the older Quarians gave her some words of encouragement when they heard what she had been through but aside from that she's been pretty quiet."

"Yeah well, I was the first one to chat with her following the attempt on her life, maybe I can get through to her?" Anola offered and McKenna nodded.

"Be my guest, I have a lot of work to do anyway and, as much as I feel sorry for her, I can't babysit her all day." McKenna responded before turning to Reya. "Reya, Officer Tr'Santi is here to see you." McKenna said and Reya looked up.

"Oh, hi Anola." Reya greeted her as she stood up and turned off her Omni-Tool. "I know we have a lot to go through and I also know that Officer Varnus likely looked up my bio after I was printed."

"He did and he gave me the basics, how about we go somewhere private for the chat?" Anola offered and Reya nodded before Anola led her to a disused room with a table and two chairs, they sat down and Anola sighed. "Okay, let's start from the top, you came to the Citadel when you were fifteen right?"

"Yeah, and I did a lot of things that I'm not proud off." Reya said as she leaned back. "I chose to come to the Citadel because I thought that with my technical skills and the goodwill that Quarians earned after the Reaper War that I'd be able to find some work but it didn't work out that way, no one would hire me, not even for freelance work though I will admit that I wish I knew that C-Sec hired Quarians for technical support sooner."

"I'm afraid it wouldn't have worked out anyway, C-Sec has a policy of only hiring employees who are eighteen or over though in the case of Asari like me the age minimum is one hundred for obvious reasons." Anola responded with a sad sigh and Reya shook her head. "I can sympathize with not being able to find work, I had trouble myself when I first moved here, was this close to taking up a job as a stripper before my mom put in a good word for me."

"Your mom must be someone special." Reya said and Anola grinned a bit.

"My family has a long history of police and military service, not only that but my mom has a pretty high position in Thessia PD and it made the higher ups take notice of me." Anola explained and Reya nodded in response. "But building illegal AIS? I can't exactly sympathize with that."

"Keelah, that was so stupid of me." Reya cussed under her breath. "I did eventually find work, a Volus approached me and offered me work with no questions asked, that should've set off god knows how many alarms in my head but I was desperate and homeless and I wasn't about to turn down a job offer." Reya added with a sigh and Anola nodded in understanding. "Things were good for the first few months, I brought my own house on the Wards and had made friends but then the arrest came."

"And everything went downhill from there." Anola responded and Reya nodded. "Your parents can't have been thrilled when they found out."

"I used my first phone call to call them on Rannoch, I didn't care how much it cost C-Sec I just knew that they had to hear my side of the story before word reached my home world." Reya explained with a sigh. "They were as angry as you'd expect them to be at first but once they heard why I was even doing something so stupid in the first place they promised to fight any extradition that the Quarian government would inevitably want, it worked and I managed to avoid a much harsher punishment on Rannoch." Reya added before sighing. "But in hindsight I'd rather risk a potential life-sentence over what has happened to me since then."

"You mean the bounty?" Anola asked and Reya nodded. "Okay, I understand that it's been a while but what do you remember?"

"I was given a year-long prison sentence and got sent to a minimum security prison, by then I was old enough to be tried as an adult but considering that the rest of the gang got much longer sentences in maximum security prisons I took what I could get." Reya explained and Anola nodded. "Most of the other inmates were non-violent offenders like me….except for my gang leader of a cell mate."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up." Anola said as a look of shock appeared on her face. "They put an eighteen year old Quarian with no criminal history or history of violence in the same cell as a gang leader? What was she even doing in a minimum security prison?"

"My public defence lawyer had the same reaction when I told him." Reya responded as she leaned back. "Have you heard of the human mob boss Al Capone?"

"Yeah, I read up about him in college." Anola nodded in response. "They got the gang leader on tax evasion like Al Capone?"

"Yeah and for the first couple of months she wasn't that bad, there were definitely nastier women in that prison, until she killed a guard with a shiv, I later learned that he was corrupt and smuggling in contraband for the leader." Reya responded with a nod. "Turned out that he had a change of heart and was willing to testify against the leader except that she killed him that night, I was having trouble sleeping and saw the whole thing."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Anola responded as she wrote everything down on her Omni-Tool. "But why would the gang leader do it herself and not arrange a hit?"

"I don't know, I wasn't exactly in a mood to ask that at the time." Reya responded as she shifted her weight. "I pretended to be asleep so that she'd leave me alone but as soon as I got the chance I told C-Sec what I knew."

"_Finding out who was working that case shouldn't be too hard, I was still on Thessia at the time and Varnus was still serving in the Turian Military so it couldn't have been either of us." _Anola thought as she wrote down what Reya had told her. "You were called to testify at court I'm guessing? How did that go?"

"It went a lot better than I thought it would, the leader's lawyer tried to use the fact that I had been arrested for developing illegal AIs against me but I kept my cool and the leader was sent to Death Row, in return for my testimony I was granted an early release." Reya added and Anola nodded as she wrote it down. "It wasn't long before I found out about the bounty."

"Yeah I have some questions about that." Anola responded and Reya nodded. "Did you ever find out just how big the price on your head was? And for that matter, who put the bounty on your head in the first place?"

"I wish I knew but all I knew was that it was a lot of money, at one point I considered faking my own death and claiming the bounty through a friend but that would've required me to have friends, after my arrest all the friends I had made wanted nothing to do with me." Reya responded with a sad sigh as Anola wrote it down. "As for who, I figured out pretty quickly that it had come from my cell-mate's gang especially after I learned about my former bosses' death but that's all I knew, the bounty hunters even went as far as to send me fake job offers to lure me into an ambush but each time C-Sec intervened and I escaped."

"It says on your profile that you escaped to the Terminus Systems." Anola said and Reya nodded. "How did you pull that off? C-Sec would've tried to stop the flight since it says that you were on parole at the time."

"I know and I also knew that I was risking getting into more trouble but I no longer felt safe on the Citadel." Reya explained with a sad sigh. "It took a lot of planning, I had to have a friend I made in prison forge a fake ID for me and buy a new Quarian suit so that no one would recognize me, it was a lot of work like I said but it paid off and it wasn't long before I was on Ilium, once there I did some freelance tech work before the bounty hunters caught up to me too weeks ago."

"_That reminds me, I'd better call Kressa and see if she remembers Reya." _Anola thought as she wrote the info down. "So you fled Ilium for the Citadel?"

"Not exactly, first I tried hiding on Omega but that ended up being an even bigger mistake than agreeing to build illegal AIs, I'm sure you can guess why." Reya responded as Anola wrote it down. "After I fled Omega I joined a mercenary crew on board their ship thinking that the bounty hunters wouldn't look for me on a ship full of mercenaries."

"_I'll give her credit, that isn't a bad idea." _Anola thought as she wrote it down. "How long did that last?"

"Longer than I thought, the mercenaries on board did find out about the bounty but they made it clear that they weren't interested in it no matter how much the price on my head was, that lasted a couple of weeks before a rival mercenary raided the ship with her gang of freelancers, at first they weren't going to kill anyone and only cared about the spoils from that groups jobs." Reya said before sighing. "Until one of the freelancers recognized me from Omega, I ran straight for the escape pods using every trick I knew to slow them down until I reached the pods, set a course for the Citadel and escaped, as I was escaping a saw the ship blow up apparently at the mercenary's hands."

"Can you describe this mercenary?" Anola asked with a frown. "If she comes after you then we can be prepared."

"She was human, around your height with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes, I guess she'd be considered attractive by human standards and she spoke in the same accent as McKenna." Reya responded as Anola wrote it down. "I never heard her full name but the captain of the ship referred to her as Andrea."

"_That doesn't narrow it down but it might be a good idea to have McKenna run that description through the database." _Anola thought as she wrote it down. "Do you remember anything else but this Andrea?"

"She looked like she was in her early twenties but I couldn't tell her exact age, she was also a biotic." Reya responded and Anola frowned when she heard that. "But at the same time she had some impressive technical skills."

"You mean like a sentinel?" Anola asked and Reya nodded. _"Female Scottish Mercenaries with biotic and tech abilities operating in the Terminus Systems going by the name of Andrea, this isn't going to be an easy task for McKenna." _Anola thought but before she could ask another question there was a knock at the door and she looked up seeing Varnus standing there. "You mind if I go talk to my partner?"

"Sure." Reya nodded as Anola stood up taking her datapad with her and left the room, she closed it behind her and turned to Varnus.

"I have a lead." Anola said with a smirk and Varnus nodded

"That makes two of us." Varnus responded as he checked his ommi-tool. "Krek gave me the name of his contact, Cameron Jacobs, we can find him at Steele's Bar and Grill."

"From one shithole to another." Anola grunted with a frown. "I've heard of that place, the food is considered to be pretty good but it's rumoured to be a front for the owner's illegal activities."

"I assume you mean Victor Steele?" Varnus asked and Anola raised an eyebrow. "I ran the bar's name through the database on the way over and he's listed as the owner, I ran his name through the database as well but there isn't much, he was one of the students Commander Shepard saved from Grissom Academy when it was attacked by Cerberus but after the Reaper War he dropped off the radar until he opened Steele's Bar and Grill two years ago." Varnus added and Anola nodded. "What's your lead?"

"I don't have as much to go on as you but Reya remembered being attacked by a human mercenary from Scotland called Andrea." Anola responded as she showed him the datapad. "She last saw her somewhere in the Terminus Systems but if she comes to the Citadel we need to be ready."

"Indeed, if you want to run the description Reya gave you through the database go ahead and give it to McKenna." Varnus nodded in response as he read the info. "Narrowing it down won't be easy but if anyone can do it it's McKenna, that just leaves one problem and that's Steele's Bar and Grill."

"What do you mean? We won't be able to stake out the place like we did at Trikaro's?" Anola asked and Varnus nodded.

"We could but it would raise more than a few questions from Commander Bailey, see since it opened Steele's Bar and Grill has been very popular with some C-Sec officers, those officers were later found guilty of corruption." Varnus explained and Anola frowned once it hit her. "Normally I'd suggest sending in Amelia but she's still coping from the shootout earlier, you have any ideas?"

"That's a good question." Anola responded as she thought for a moment. _"Most of my informants would look really out of place in Steele's Bar and Grill….except for one." _Anola realized as an idea popped into her head. "What about my dad?"

"Thrax? I thought he retired from mercenary work?" Varnus asked as his mandibles flared. "Something about "combat getting boring"?"

"He did but he lives on the Citadel and when I told him I work for C-Sec he said that he'd be willing to help with anything." Anola responded with a grin. "And besides, my other informants wouldn't exactly fit in since they are an eighteen year old human petty thief, a Salarian scared off his own shadow and an Elcor porn store owner."

"Well I suppose he'll…..Elcor porn store owner?!" Varnus trailed off as he stared at her. "How exactly does he come in handy? Or come up with the idea to open a porn store? And how did you come into contact with him in the first place?"

"In order, he comes in handy on the off chance that a suspect has a particular kink, he comes from a family of merchants and he decided to open a porn store and it's a long story but I ended up chasing a suspect into his store and didn't realize what store I had entered until after I arrested the suspect." Anola responded as Varnus continued to stare at her. "He's a legitimate businessman who happens to know a few people in the underworld, I gave him my contact details and he's been a great help ever since."

"Right….." Varnus trailed off before clearing his throat. "It's a good thing that we don't have to run our contacts through Commander Bailey because I'm sure that he would raise even more questions than us hanging out at Steele's Bar and Grill, speaking of which…."

"I'll make the call to dad after I give the details to McKenna." Anola responded as she walked towards McKenna's desk. "In the meantime, what are we going to do about Reya? We can't let her go since she's being hunted by bounty hunters."

"I'll make the arrangements for her to be put into protective custody until we catch whoever's responsible for the bounty, quite frankly if that had been done after she testified we wouldn't be in this mess but that's beside the point." Varnus responded and Anola nodded. "Well, we have a lot of work to do so we'd better get started."

"Right, I'll make the calls to my sister and my dad once I hand over the description and I'll let you know when I'm done." Anola responded as she started walking towards McKenna's desk, Varnus walked in the opposite direction and glanced towards Reya.

"_I hope we can put an end to the bounty on her head but what will happen after that? She has no job and no home on the Citadel and I don't have a spare room for her to stay in, Anola? I've been to her apartment when I had to drop off her dad from the drunk tank and it's tiny." _Varnus thought as he walked down the hall. _"I'm sure that we will think of something to keep her out of trouble but all that will be for naught if she ends up killed, right now arresting whoever put the bounty on her head is our priority."_


	3. Recon

"Really?" McKenna asked as she read over the description Reya had given Anola whilst the Asari stood nearby. "This is all I have to go on? A vague description that could describe at least half of the human female population on the Wards alone and a first name?"

"I know it's not much but it's not like Reya could've gotten a clearer look at her head when she had her gang raided the ship." Anola responded as she folded her arms. "Besides, we also know that she's between five foot five and five foot six and that she's a biotic with tech abilities."

"That still doesn't narrow it down!" McKenna grunted in annoyance as Anola frowned. "Look I know biotics come to Asari naturally and whilst the same can't be said for humans we are seeing a lot of biotic kids nowadays." McKenna added as she started entering the info. "I might have to give a call to an information broker I know to see if she knows who Reya was talking about."

"Shadow Broker agent?" Anola asked and McKenna shook her head.

"She's freelance, doesn't exactly have the same resources as a Shadow Broker agent but she knows what she's doing." McKenna responded and Anola nodded. "Even then this might take a while so if I where you I'd be doing other stuff in the meantime."

"It's a good thing I have to call my sister on Ilium then." Anola responded and McKenna invited her to use the video phone on her desk, Anola sat down on it and looked at the screen in confusion. "I still haven't gotten the hang of these things."

"Press that button to call and type the number here." McKenna instructed her and Anola did so. "Why are you making a long distance call to Ilium during an investigation in the first place?"

"Reya was on Ilium for a couple of months and my sister works for Ilium PD." Anola explained as she glanced up at McKenna. "I want to see if she ever encountered Reya whilst she lived there."

"And shed some light on her situation?" McKenna asked and Anola nodded. "So how do you plan on explaining the phone bill to Bailey?"

"Once he hears that it was to do with the investigation I'm sure he'll understand, hopefully." Anola responded as she waited for her sister to pick up. _"Goddess, please tell me she's not out in the field at the moment."_

"Hello?" Another Asari's voice rang out and after a few seconds the video screen showed the Asari at her desk in Ilium PD, when she saw Anola however her face brightened up. "Hey sis!"

"Hey Kressa, I know it's been a while since we last chatted but, well, you know as well as I do how hectic this job can be." Anola responded and Kressa nodded.

"Tell me about it, my workload for the past week has been hell." Kressa said with a grin as she shifted her weight. "Good thing you called when you did, my shift's just about to end."

"Really? It's the early evening here….oh right, time zone difference." Anola said with a small laugh as she shook her head. "I'll never get used to those."

"Considering you spent most of your life on Thessia and only moved to the Citadel twenty years ago I'm not surprised." Kressa responded before frowning. "But if you're calling in the early afternoon over there then your shift must still be going, you're not slacking off are you?"

"Just because I'm the youngest of the siblings doesn't mean I'm slacking off!" Anola snapped at her before shaking her head. "Sorry, still a touchy subject."

"Its fine, I'd get defensive if I were in your shoes as well." Kressa nodded in understanding and Anola grinned at that. "So what's up?"

"As you probably guessed, I'm calling on C-Sec business." Anola responded as she checked her notes. "It's a long story but a young Quarian we're protecting was on Ilium for a time and I was wondering if you recognized her name."

"Anola, you realize how big Ilium is, right?" Kressa asked with a look of confusion on her face and Anola nodded. "I'll try my best but I can't make any promises, what's her name?"

"Reya'Dora nar Wera." Anola responded and Kressa frowned when she heard the name. "So you do recognize her."

"Unfortunately yeah, I and my partner at the time were out on patrol when we got a call about a shootout, well I say shootout but it was between a group of heavily armed mercenaries and one unarmed Quarian called Reya." Kressa explained and Anola frowned. "I managed to arrest the mercs but my partner took a bullet to her stomach, she was pronounced dead at the hospital."

"Goddess…." Anola trailed off before shaking her head. "Sorry for reopening old wounds like that."

"No need to apologize sis, you had no way of knowing." Kressa responded and Anola nodded.

"That's kind off similar to how me and Varnus ran into her except it was one Krogan mercenary armed with a shotgun and we were already at the scene." Anole responded and Kressa nodded. "Luckily no one got killed but said Krogan did run me over."

"Ouch, that must've hurt like a bitch." Kressa responded with a wince and Anola nodded.

"Would've been a lot worse if the Krogan had killed me but Reya sabotaged his gun just in time." Anola responded with a sigh of relief. "Varnus is trying to arrange protective custody for her but in the meantime we're trying to put an end to the bounty on her head."

"I hope you succeed at that, she's a nice girl and definitely doesn't deserve to have mercenaries chasing her all over the galaxy." Kressa nodded in response before checking her watch. "I have to go sis, my shift ended a few minutes ago but you should definitely pop over sometime."

"On a C-Sec officer's salary?" Anola asked and Kressa shook her head.

"That's why people save up, you should try it sometime, see you around." Kressa responded before hanging up and Anola did likewise.

"Don't get along with your siblings?" McKenna asked as Anola started putting in a different number and Anola shook her head.

"Nah, they just like getting on my case just because I'm the youngest." Anola responded as she glanced up at McKenna. "Then again there's not much of an age difference between my older siblings so that might explain it."

"What were they born the same year or something?" McKenna asked and Anola shook her head.

"Try the same day, my older sisters are twins." Anola responded as she waited for the other caller to pick-up. "Mom told me that she was expecting the same thing to happen when I was born but nope, I ended up being her only child to be born that day."

"She wasn't preparing for another set of twins right?" McKenna asked with a small laugh and Anola shook her head.

"Thankfully she found out that she'd be giving birth to one Asari a few months in advance." Anola responded as she waited for her dad to pick up and after a few seconds a scarred Krogan's face appeared on the screen as McKenna took a sip of her coffee. "Hey dad." She greeted him and McKenna nearly spat out the coffee.

"Hey Anola, need me for something?" Thrax asked with a grin as McKenna leaned over to get a better look at him. "Oh and your co-worker's being nosy."

"Sorry, had to double check that she was talking to a Krogan." McKenna apologized as she returned to her station. _"Oh good, Rachel's gotten back to me." _McKenna thought as she opened up the e-mail.

"Let me guess, another C-Sec officer who didn't know that I'm your dad?" Thrax asked and Anola nodded in response. "Don't tell me, she's a newbie?"

"Not exactly, hell McKenna's been working here longer than I have." Anola responded as she shook her head. "We just don't get to talk much since I'm in Homicide and she's in the Cyber Crimes division."

"Right, they haven't figured out how to murder someone over the extranet yet." Thrax commented with a chuckle and Anola grinned at that. "But if you're calling me at work then you must need me for something."

"You're right as always dad." Anola said as she shifted her weight. "Do you know a place called Steele's Bar and Grill?"

"I've seen it a few times but I've never been in there, not much point since I'm retired and all that." Thrax responded with a nod. "Let me guess, you need me to go in there."

"I'll go into more detail a bit later but for now all you need to know is that it's connected to my current case." Anola responded and Thrax nodded. "Normally I'd go with one of my other informants but none of them would really fit in there."

"Really? Are you sure that that Elcor who runs a porn store won't fit in?" Thrax asked and Anola shook her head. "All right, where do you want to meet?"

"How about that café not far from C-Sec HQ?" Anola offered after thinking for a moment and Thrax nodded.

"I know the place, their food's crap though." Thrax responded and Anola laughed a bit. "I'll meet you and that Turian there, see you in a bit." Thrax added before hanging up.

"So your dad's a Krogan, can't say I saw that coming." McKenna commented as Anola put the phone down and Anola shook her head.

"Trust me, you're not the first officer to be surprised by that fact." Anola responded as she glanced up at McKenna and the doors to the Cyber Crime office opened. "Hell Varnus nearly fell out of his chair when I told him."

"I believe the human expression is my ears are burning." Varnus's voice rang out and Anola looked up seeing the Turian standing there. "Reya's been moved into a hotel, C-Sec's paying the bill and Bailey posted officers outside her hotel room, she'll be safe for now."

"I've got some good news as well." Anola responded as she stood up. "Dad agreed to meet us at the nearby café, he seems to be on board with helping us out."

"Excellent, should be plain sailing from now on." Varnus responded with a nod. "What about your sister? Did she give you anything useful?"

"Not a lot, Reya's experiences at Ilium are similar to how we met her." Anola responded as she checked her notes. "She got attacked by mercs and Kressa and her partner where first on the scene, unfortunately Kressa's partner got killed."

"A whole ship of friendly mercenaries and one of Ilium's finest, spirits, how much blood does she have on her hands?" Varnus commented and Anola shook her head.

"In spite of that my sister didn't seem to hold any grudges against Reya, she even said that she wants us to get rid of the bounty on Reya's head." Anola added and Varnus nodded. "Aside from that there's nothing new."

"Not exactly." McKenna chimed in and officers turned to her. "I got a match on the mercenary that Reya described, meet Andrea McKenzie." McKenna added as she handed them that datapad and the two officers read it.

"Born in Scotland, currently resides on Omega, no criminal charges prior to moving to the Terminus Systems aside from some juvenile offenses and she's twenty three years old." Varnus read the info with a look of surprise on his face. "You got all that from a vague description?"

"Much as I like to toot my own horn, it wasn't that easy." McKenna responded as she rested her hands behind her head. "I had to call in a favour I was owed by the Iron Maiden."

"The British Heavy Metal band?" Anola asked and McKenna laughed.

"That would be one hell of a favour since the members are all dead." McKenna responded before shaking her head. "She's an information broker I know, she's known as the Iron Maiden because, well, she's often seen wearing Iron Maiden shirts in public, basically she's one of the best freelance info brokers on the Citadel and I happened to save one of her contacts from being wrongfully imprisoned for hacking by proving that he was watching porn at the time."

"Charming." Varnus grunted as he shook his head. "I'll get this info to Commander Bailey and he'll have all the check in stations on alert for her, for now we have to find Cameron Jacobs and find out what he knows."

"Right behind you." Anola said as she followed the Turian out of the office.

*meanwhile*

Back at the check in station where Reya had been scanned things were going smoothly for the most part as the C-Sec officer operating the scanners continued to scan new arrivals.

"Okay big guy, you can go on through." The officer said as an Elcor stepped through the scanners, she looked out to the line and sighed to herself. _"I really should've went to C-Sec academy instead." _She thought before pressing a button. "Send in the next one."

"_Good, that's me." _The young woman who was next thought as she entered the scanners, on the outside there was nothing too noticeable about her, she was an attractive woman with elbow length black hair and blue eyes wearing a black crop top that also exposed her shoulders, black gloves blue jeans and black boots, at least that's what she wanted the officer to think. "The scanner will probably pick up on my biotic implants so don't be surprised if it goes off." The woman commented and the officer, whilst noticing her Scottish accent, didn't comment on it.

"You sound like you've been through this before ma'am." The officer said as she started inputting commands. "What implant do you have? My brother's been trying to upgrade for months."

"Latest model off course." The woman responded as the scanner passed over her. _"Not that she needs to know how I got it, living on Omega has its advantages." _She thought as the scanners went off just as she predicted. "And it just set off the scanner didn't it?"

"Yeah and something else, something metal." The officer responded and the woman's eyes narrowed. "Do you have any piercings? Or earrings for that matter?"

"_Good." _She thought before nodding. "I have a naval piercing, little relic from my teen years." She responded and the officer nodded. "Can I go through or not? My boyfriend's waiting for me."

"You know what they say about long distance relationships ma'am." The officer responded and the woman rolled her eyes before the doors on the other end opened up. "Go ahead." She added and the woman walked through the scanners, once the doors closed she got a message on her Omni-Tool. _"Andrea McKenzie, better keep an eye out for her." _The officer thought as she let a Turian in next.

What she didn't know was that the woman she had just let in was Andrea McKenzie and once she was a safe distance from the scanners she ducked into a nearby alley and went deep into it.

"Sardir, you're a genius." Andrea said into an earpiece once she was far enough into the alley that no one could hear her. "I don't know how you hacked the scanners but I'm thankful for it."

"Yeah well, when you pay for a Quarian hacker you can expect the best." A male Quarian's voice responded and Andrea grinned. "I'm already searching through C-Sec's records for any reports of your target, as soon as I get confirmation on her whereabouts you'll be the first to know."

"And the last to cash in on that bounty." Andrea commented with a grin as she walked through the alley. "What about my equipment?"

"The merchant you paid off pulled through, you can find it at the nearest loading bay." Sardir responded and Andrea's grin grew wider but she didn't notice that she was now being followed by two male humans and a male Batarian. "Sending the coordinates to your Omni-Tool now."

"Got them." Andrea responded as she checked her Omni-Tool, however before she could say anything else she walked into a brick wall. "Son of a bitch, I took a wrong turn."

"Andrea I think you have bigger problems, there's three guys behind you, all wanted for rape but I think you can take them since they have no fighting experience on record." Sardir responded as Andrea turned around and saw the three men in front of her.

"Hey baby, you lost?" The Batarian asked as he stepped forward, Andrea rolled her eyes in response as she looked around.

"_One dumpster by the far wall, two garbage cans next to the Batarian and three losers, this won't take long." _Andrea thought as she tried to brush past the Batarian. "No but you three can get lost before you get hurt."

"Ohhh a feisty one, I like that in a woman." One of the men said as the Batarian shoved her against the wall and pinned her against it. "Don't worry baby, we'll be gentle."

"Maybe they'll be gentle but me? Well I hate humans so take a wild guess." The Batarian added as he went to put his hand up her shirt only to be smacked away by Andrea.

"That was your last warning." Andrea said before raising her hand with four fingers outstretched. "Hope you don't need those eyes for anything." She added before poking the Batarian in all four of his eyes, the Batarian let go off her to clutch his eyes in pain giving Andrea a chance to punch him in the throat and kick him in the balls knocking him down.

"You bitch!" The second human said before charging towards her in an attempt to punch her, she dodged it easily before punching him in the stomach and judo tossing him into the trash cans knocking him out.

"All right, who's left?" Andrea asked and her question quickly got answered when the first human pulled a cheap looking gun on her. "You had that all this time and you decide to use it just now? Amateur!" Andrea scoffed as the blue glow that indicated that she was about to use her biotics flared up.

"You won't be laughing when I shoot you full of holes you cu….." The human's threat was cut off when he was suspended in mid-air causing him to drop the gun, with one arm motion Andrea sent him flying into the wall behind her face-first and with a another she sent him flying into the dumpster knocking him out, she bent over to check the gun and scoffed.

"That idiot didn't even load it, what did he expect to do? Make gun noises with his mouth and hope that I played along?" Andrea commented to herself before using her biotics to close the dumpster on the third thug, she almost left when she heard the Batarian groaning and walked up to him. "Here's what I don't get four eyes, if you hate humans so much then why hang out with those idiots?"

"I've been asking myself the same question for the past few minutes." The Batarian groaned as he reached for his own gun only for Andrea to grab it first. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I live on Omega where I work as a freelance mercenary, learning how to fight hand to hand was pretty much mandatory." Andrea responded as she examined the gun. "I'll give you credit, unlike that idiot you actually took the time to load your weapon, pity the tiny one you were going to use on me is currently out of action."

"Fuck you." The Batarian growled in response as Andrea emptied the gun harmlessly and handed it to him. "You're not going to finish me off?"

"And have C-Sec coming after my sweet ass? I didn't survive on Omega for five years by being an idiot." Andrea responded as she tossed the gun at him. "Which is the same reason why I'm going to do this." Andrea added before placing her knee on his leg and grabbing the lower half of his leg.

"What are you…." The Batarian trailed of as she picked up his leg and her biotics flared up again. "Wait, you don't have to do that, I won't…." The Batarian trailed off before Andrea twisted his leg, a sick crack rang out throughout the alley quickly followed by the Batarian screaming in pain and Andrea shook her head before standing up and leaving the alley.

"Bit excessive don't you think?" Sardir asked and Andrea shook his head.

"That Batarian was armed and freely admitted to hating humans, I just stopped him from getting revenge." Andrea responded as she left the alley. "Besides, someone's bound to hear him and check on him which means a hospital stay for him and his buddies and since they are wanted by C-Sec for rape…."

"The hospital will notify C-Sec and by the time they are out of prison you'll be back on Omega living comfortably off the bounty, hopefully I'll get a cut." Sardir responded and Andrea grinned.

"Like I said, I didn't survive on Omega for five years by being an idiot so yeah, you and the rest of the crew will get a cut." Andrea responded before sighing. "Now I just have to get rid of these hair extensions."

"Do you have too? You look a lot better with your hair that long." Sardir responded and Andrea grinned. "Not that you you're not smoking hot without them off course…."

"Sardir, if I had a credit chit for every time I got told that whilst in disguise I wouldn't need the bounty to live comfortably." Andrea responded before taking the extensions out. "Besides, they'll say that they were attacked by a girl who almost matches my description but with longer hair so off course I do."

"I'll keep you posted if I find the girl." Sardir posted as Andrea removed the last of her extensions and threw them in the trash. "Come to think of it, did we ever find out why an eighteen year old Quarian has such a large bounty on her head?"

"No and I don't care." Andrea responded before walking off. _"Why should I care who she pissed off? I only care about the money."_

*a bit later*

Steele's Bar and Grill was a fairly large establishment and as the name suggested it had a kitchen around the back and served food to its clientele, on the surface it looked like a nice enough place and by all accounts it should be popular with the residents on the Wards, except, like Trikaro's, it was a bar popular with the lowlifes of the Citadel Wards.

And for Urdnot Thrax it was a bar he knew all too well.

"You guys in position?" Thrax whispered into his earpiece as he entered the bar, alongside the earpiece he had a small camera hidden in his armour and the site of the old Krogan turned some heads namely from people who knew him from his mercenary days but most of them kept their distance.

"We're in a squad car outside the alley near the bar." Anola responded as Thrax sat down on a bar stool that barely supported his weight. "Remember, you're looking for Cameron Jacobs but if you see Jared Black let us know."

"Understood." Thrax responded before turning to the Asari bartender who had approached him. "Get me a strong beer."

"Off course." The Asari nodded as she wrote down the order. "Do you want a menu as well?"

"I'm fine thanks." Thrax responded as he leaned forward, the Asari poured him a drink and he paid for it with a credit chit. "Hey, who do I talk too about bounties and the like?"

"That's not my department." The Asari responded clearly getting nervous about Thrax's line of questioning. "I…I can make a call to the boss and he can send someone down."

"Is Cameron Jacobs among the guys who handle bounties?" Thrax asked the Asari groaned before nodding.

"I wish he wasn't, guy's a total pervert." The Asari responded and Thrax looked her over. "Granted most of the clientele here are perverts but the main difference is that Cameron actually works here."

"I can't say I blame him looking at you." Thrax responded and Asari rolled her eyes. "Ask for him specifically, I've heard that he's got his hands on a particularly large bounty, feel free to make your own pervert jokes."

"I would if it wouldn't get me fired." The Asari responded as she sighed. "I'll ask for him but can you do me a favour and keep him out of my hair, so to speak?"

"I'll see what I can do." Thrax responded as the Asari put a hand to her earpiece, Thrax looked around and put a hand to his own earpiece. "See anyone of interest?"

"Aside from the staff? It's easier to notice guys who aren't wanted by C-Sec." Anola responded and Thrax grinned. "Unfortunately I don't see anyone who's actually relevant to our investigation." Anola added and Thrax frowned. "Seems like Jacobs is pretty high up in Steele's organization."

"That or he's a glorified lapdog, didn't Varnus say that he was a junkie just a few months ago?" Thrax asked as he looked around.

"I did and his lawyer pled down to a suspended sentence when I last arrested him." Varnus chimed in as Thrax took a sip from his drink. "What I never got was that Jacobs didn't get a public defence lawyer like he did during his previous arrests, instead he got a high priced lawyer."

"Sounds like Steele took an interest in him." Thrax commented before his eyes narrowed. "You guys can zoom in on that camera right?"

"Yeah, why?" Anola asked and Thrax frowned.

"See that booth I'm looking at? The one with that one lucky bastard surrounded by scantily clad hot chicks fawning over him? Zoom in on that." Thrax responded and the officers did so.

"It's Black." Anola realized when she got a good look at the man's face. "So much for him laying low, any ideas Varnus?"

"You handle Jacobs, I'll go after Black." Varnus responded as someone walked down the stairs that led to Steele's office.

"Speak of the devil, see you in the alley Anola." Thrax said once he recognized the man from his mugshot, Cameron Jacobs was a tall, dark skinned man with black dreadlocks and brown eyes, whilst in the mugshot he was wearing clothes that he had clearly slept in now he was wearing formal clothing but there was no mistaking him. "You must be Cameron Jacobs."

"In the flesh my man, in the flesh." Cameron responded as he pulled up a seat. "You know it's not often that someone calls for my name specifically when it comes to bounties, especially mercenaries who I heard were long retired but if you want to cash in on the bounty I've got you made the right choice." Cameron added with a grin. "Hey dollface, get me a drink will you?"

"You know Jacobs, you might have better luck with the ladies if you actually treated them with respect." Thrax commented dryly as he took a sip. "Take it from me, Asari hate being called dollface."

"How would you know? Asari are the hot babes of the galaxy man, you're just an ugly old alien." Jacobs responded and Thrax scoffed.

"Your right, I'm an ugly old alien, but I'm an ugly old alien who got an Asari police officer on Thessia knocked up after only a few drinks." Thrax responded and Jacobs put up his hands.

"Touché, now why don't we talk about this bounty business somewhere more private?" Jacobs offered and Thrax nodded.

"There's an alleyway outside that I used for my business dealings back when I was still active." Thrax said as he finished his drink. "Let's go there."

"Sorry but I only conduct business in the main man's office." Jacobs said as he motioned towards the office. "Nothing personal." Jacobs said before standing up and walking towards the stairs.

"Shame, I was going to cut you in on the bounty and I'm willing to bet that Steele doesn't let you take a cut of the bounties you handle." Thrax responded and Jacobs stopped in his tracks. "How much is that guy paying you to deal with thugs like me? I'm willing to bet that it's not nearly enough."

"Your right, it's not." Jacobs said before finishing his drink and putting a chit on the counter. "You'll seriously cut me in? This is a lot of money we're talking about."

"How much are we talking about exactly?" Thrax asked as he got up off the chair.

"Half a million alive, million dead." Jacobs responded and Thrax grinned.

"Even with that in mind I'll still cut you in." Thrax responded and Jacobs grinned. "I'm a man of my word."

"Lead the way big man!" Jacobs said with a laugh and Thrax led him out of the club.

"Varnus, Black is on the move." Thrax whispered into his earpiece as he spotted Black leave with the women out the back. "Looks like he's hoping to get lucky tonight, wait until the perfect time to cockblock him."

"I do love messing with suspects." Varnus responded with a chuckle before Thrax heard him get out of the car.

"Something bothering you big man?" Jacobs asked and Thrax turned to him.

"Yeah, the shitty music." Thrax responded and Jacobs laughed before they left the bar, Thrax led him into the alley and leaned against the wall once they were deep enough into the alley. "So, what can you tell me about this bounty? From what I heard it's on some Quarian's head."

"I don't know all the details man, all I know is that some Quarian testified against the wrong person and someone put the bounty on her head." Cameron answered and Thrax nodded as he folded his arms. "If we were in the office I could tell you more."

"How so?" Thrax asked as he glared at him. "Did Steele put the bounty on her head?"

"Don't insult Steele, if she did piss him off he wouldn't bother with bounty hunters, instead he'd just have one of his guys kill her and be done with it." Cameron responded and Thrax nodded in response. "But Steele has a Shadow Broker agent working for him and I could've asked him to look up the info himself." Cameron added and Thrax nodded as he spotted Anola closing in.

"I'm going to be honest with you Cameron." Thrax said as he kicked off the wall. "I couldn't care less about this bounty."

"What?" Cameron said as his eyes widened. "But you said you'd cut me in."

"It's a little thing called a dirty white lie, maybe you've heard of it?" Thrax responded with a grin. "I'm done here but my daughter wants a word with you." Thrax added before walking off.

"Daughter?" Cameron asked before yelping in surprise as Anola forced his hands behind his back and cuffed him.

"Cameron Jacobs, your under arrest for accessory to attempted murder, you have the right to remain silent and anything you say can be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney and if you can't afford one the Citadel will provide you with one, do you understand your rights as have read out to you?" Anola said as Cameron looked over and saw Anola's C-Sec badge. "You're not getting a suspended sentence this time."

"Let go of me bitch!" Cameron cussed catching Thrax's attention. "Do you have any idea who you're arresting?!"

"A former junkie who got lucky." Anola responded as she started dragging him to the squad car. "Steele's lawyers don't scare me."

"It's not Steele's lawyers you should be worried about!" Cameron barked out as Thrax approached them. "Once Steele realizes what's happened you may as well start digging your own grave."

"Are you threatening my daughter?!" Thrax said as he stormed up to Thrax. "You know, if Anola didn't have to worry about police brutality charges and I wasn't retired you'd be entering that squad car a bloody mess!"

"Dad its fine, he's bluffing." Anola responded as she rolled her eyes and Thrax shook his head.

"I know when someone's bluffing and this little idiot isn't bluffing!" Thrax responded as he got in Cameron's face. "Here's what you are going to do, when you get to C-Sec you are going to call Steele and tell him to not send anyone after my daughter!"

"And why should I listen to you?!" Cameron demanded as the Krogan glared at him.

"I'm one thousand years old, in my time I have eaten punks like you for Breakfast. Lunch and Dinner, do you really want to piss me off?" Thrax said as his voice dropped into a low growl. "And if you don't, well I have friends in prison, some of them are lifers and I think that you'd be very popular with them, especially after I tell them when and how you pissed me off." Thrax added and Cameron gulped as he started sweating bullets.

"Wh…when I get to C-Sec I want my phone call and a lawyer." Cameron responded with another nervous gulp.

"Good, Anola please make sure that he follows through on his promise." Thrax responded and Anola nodded before dragging him to the squad car.

*meanwhile*

"Oh Jared, your cock looks so big….." One of the women said as they lead Jared, a tall muscular man with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes wearing casual clothing, further into the alleyway. "I don't want to wait until we get back to your place."

"Neither do I." The other women said with big grins on their faces and Jared's already big grin grew wider.

"So you girls wanna fuck here in the alley?" Jared said and the women nodded enthusiastically, they were so caught up in the moment that they didn't see Varnus approaching them. "Who am I to say no?" Jared asked as the girls got closer to them.

"Ladies, I'm sorry to spoil the mood." Varnus said as one of the girls started pulling down Jared's jeans and they looked up. "But Jared is wanted for the murder of his girlfriend, I'm sure you don't want the same to happen to you." Varnus added and Jared looked up in time to see Varnus's C-Sec badge.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Jared yelled out before shoving the women aside and trying to run down the alleyway, Varnus chased after him and unfortunately for Jared Varnus was quicker and tackled him to the ground. "You can't prove that I raped and killed that bitch with a knife!"

"Congratulations on saying the dumbest thing I've heard all day Black, the fact that Claudia was murdered with a knife was never released to the public!" Varnus said and Jared's eyes widened as Varnus started to cuff him. "Jared Black, your under arrest for the murder of Claudia Steele, you have the right to remain silent and anything you do say can and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney and if you can't afford one the Citadel will provide you with one, do you understand your rights as have read out to you?"

"I understand that I'm dead as soon as Victor Steele realizes that I killed his cheating bitch of a daughter!" Jared grunted as Varnus pulled him up to his feet, Varnus turned to the women who were clearly shaken up by what had happened.

"Maybe you should've thought about that before going to Steele's Bar and Grill." Varnus responded before turning back to the women. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine but that put us off the mood for sex." The woman who almost removed Jared's jeans responded as she helped another woman up. "What do we do know?"

"You want my advice? Go home, have a cold shower, revaluate your lives and strongly reconsider who you sleep with in the future." Varnus responded as he dragged off Jared to the squad car. "And whilst you're at it, avoid Steele's Bar and Grill like it was a rampaging Krogan."

"Don't need to tell me twice." The woman responded before they walked off and Varnus put Jared in the squad car next to Cameron, Anola was in the driver's side and looked up when she heard the door open.

"What? I haven't had a chance to drive this thing in a week, I think it's only fair." Anola commented and Varnus shrugged before adjusting the seat and getting in. "Cameron gave me a lot of great info about the bounty, I'll go over it when we get back to C-Sec."

"I have good news as well, Jared practically confessed to Claudia's murder." Varnus responded and Anola grinned at that. "But he seemed to be more concerned about the fact that Victor will likely have him killed once he realizes that Jared killed his daughter."

"He should've thought of that before going to the bar Victor owns." Anola responded before the console came on indicating a call, Anola answered it and Bailey's face appeared on the screen. "Bailey, we have Jared and Cameron, we're on our back now."

"That's great and all but I wouldn't celebrate just yet, three more rape suspects just got admitted to Huerta Memorial." Bailey responded and Varnus blinked in confusion. "It's the trio behind the recent gang rape cases, they are pretty banged up too, especially Doneya Kagfoth."

"No offence Bailey but that's not our case, Andrews and McKansa are working that case." Varnus responded and Bailey shook his head.

"They contacted me about it, saying that this might interest you two." Bailey responded and the two officers gave him a curious look. "The three men claim that they were beaten up by a female biotic from Omega, I'm forwarding their description of their assailant now." Bailey added before inputting some commands and the description came up.

"Varnus, is it just me or does that description sound like Andrea?" Anola asked once she read through it. "Aside from the longer hair that is."

"It does, it could be a coincidence but I can't think of many mercenaries who would come to the Citadel from Omega for nothing." Varnus responded before turning back to Bailey's vid chat. "What's the damage report?"

"The two human thugs have mild concussions but Doneya got the worst of it, his right legs broken so badly that it has to be amputated and that's not counting the damage to his eyes and throat, this lady did a real number on him." Bailey responded and the two officers frowned.

"We'll drop off Jared and Cameron at the station then go to see those scumbags at Huerta, make sure that these two are put in holding cells in the meantime." Anola responded and Bailey nodded in response.

"I'll have McKansa and Andrews meet you at the hospital, they can go into more detail than I can." Bailey responded before hanging up.

"This case just keeps getting interesting, doesn't it Varnus?" Anola asked and Varnus nodded in agreement.

"I don't think that there's any point to the notification to the officers manning the checkpoints to look out for Andrea at this point, I'll have Bailey call it off when we're at C-Sec." Varnus responded and Anola shook her head.

"If, goddess forbid, she gets to Reya and kills her before we can detain her then the officers can delay her at the checkpoint if she tries to flee after cashing in on the bounty." Anola responded and Varnus nodded in agreement. "Like I said, that's pretty much the worst case scenario but if we pull it off at least Reya's death in that scenario will go avenged."

"Great points, I should've thought of that." Varnus responded as Anola started to drive off. "But what can we detain her on? As far as we know the only crime she's committed was the assault on those thugs and any decent lawyer can argue that that was in self-defence assuming that they tried to rape her first."

"Even if they didn't try that I wouldn't feel comfortable arresting her for that." Anola responded with a frown. "We saw the reports when they first started their crime spree, those bastards brutalized those girls and left them for dead."

"I know what you mean, I guess we'll have to think of something." Varnus responded before realizing something. "What did McKenna's informant say about her juvenile arrests?"

"Not a lot from what I remember, they seemed to be mostly petty crimes." Anola responded after thinking for a moment. "Besides, those records would've been expunged when she turned eighteen so I don't know what you're getting at."

"I'll do some digging when we get back from the hospital but for now let's get these idiots to lock-up." Varnus responded with a nod as Anola drove off.


	4. I fought the Law

Huerta Memorial was a lot busier than it was when Anola had been admitted to the hospital after her encounter with Krek earlier but after what had transpired since then Anola wasn't surprised, there was another C-Sec patrol car with two human officers, one female and one male, sitting on the hood in the parking lot and whilst there was a few cars parked Anola and Varnus were able to find a place to park.

"Varnus, Anola, if you're here then I'm guessing Bailey gave you our message." Andrews commented when he spotted the other two officers approaching them, McKansa and Andrews were former Alliance officers who joined C-Sec after their service term was up, they didn't work in the same areas whilst they worked for the Alliance but they quickly became friends once they joined C-Sec and they got partnered up just as quickly.

"Nice to see you too Andrews." Varnus responded and Andrews shook his head.

"Sorry, we're just pumped that we've finally been able to arrest those bastards, circumstances around their arrests aside." Andrews apologized and Varnus nodded in understanding. "We just have to wait for them to be discharged from Huerta Memorial before we can make the arrest, Jackson and Storms will be released soon but Doneya? I'm guessing Bailey mentioned how badly he was injured?"

"He said that his right leg is broken to the point that it needs to be amputated, aside from that he didn't go into more detail." Anola responded and McKansa nodded.

"Yeah, he's in surgery now." McKansa responded as she shook her head. "I never thought I'd feel sorry for the bastard but I saw his leg and it looked nasty." McKansa added and Anola grimaced.

"Must be if it's affecting two former Alliance Soldiers." Anola commented and McKansa shook her head.

"Andrews worked on a frigate and I was part of a colony garrison, we didn't exactly see that much action." McKansa responded before sighing. "Doneya went into surgery an hour ago and even if we wait until the surgery's done we still have to wait until he wakes up."

"And something tells me that he's not going to be in a talkative mood to either of us." Varnus grunted as he folded his arms. "Any ideas Katherine?" Varnus asked as he turned to McKansa and Katherine shook her head.

"If I had any ideas I'd have suggested one." Katherine responded as she leaned against the car. "If you don't mind me asking, the description we sent to Bailey, did it match Andrea?"

"We don't know for certain, setting aside the longer hair which could easily be the result of hair extensions her description matches any number of human women on the Citadel alone." Varnus responded as he shook his head. "You talk as though you've heard of her?"

"Mostly through second hand sources like my younger sister Jenny who serves on an Alliance Frigate." Katherine responded as she shook her head. "Basically from what I've heard she leaves nothing to chance when on a job which may explain what she did to Doneya earlier."

"And that job must be the Quarian you guys are protecting." Andrews chimed in with a frown as he turned to them. "What do you know so far?"

"She's one of the unluckiest Quarians I've ever met, been to prison twice, has a million credit bounty on her head for anyone who kills her and half a million for anyone who brings her in alive and she inadvertently caused the death of a crew of mercenaries that she joined and one of Ilium's finest." Varnus responded and the two officers frowned when they heard that. "All because she did the right thing by going to C-Sec with crucial info regarding a murder investigation."

"Jesus Christ, I'm almost tempted to ask who she pissed off in a past life but last I checked Quarians don't believe in past lives." Katherine responded with a frown. "But if she was a witness in a murder investigation why wasn't she put in Witness Protection?"

"We don't know, I'm calling in every favour I am owed to find out but I'm not getting any closer to the truth." Varnus responded with a frown. "She also testified against another criminal, a Volus who had a gang making an illegal AI that included her in their ranks but he was killed two years ago."

"What about the other gang members? Have you tried them?" Katherine asked and Varnus paused.

"I'm surprised I didn't think of that, problem is we're still waiting on a warrant for the court records so that info is in the hands of a bureaucrat until the DA goes to a judge with a warrant request." Varnus responded with a frown. "McKenna in Cyber Crimes knows an information broker known as the Iron Maiden, it was through that broker that we learned who Andrea was exactly, and that might be a work around the warrant issue."

"But if you go to this Iron Maiden any decent lawyer will ask how you got the information without a warrant." Andrews pointed out with a frown. "Something tells me that she won't be willing to testify on the stand."

"Best solution I can think of is arguing inevitable discovery but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Anola responded with a frown as the hospital doors opened and the Salarian from earlier stepped out. "How's Doneya doc?"

"He's out of surgery but he won't be waking up for quite some time yet." The Salarian responded with a frown. "If I where you I'd make yourselves comfy in the waiting room, I'll let you know when he's awake." The Salarian added and the four officers nodded before entering the hospital.

*meanwhile*

So where was Andrea at the moment? At the docks waiting for her equipment to be delivered off course.

"_If I had known that there was a wait attached I would've brought my Omni-Tool with the thousandth edition of Angry Birds installed." _Andrea thought with a frown as she looked around the docks, she was currently sitting on a unused crate at the docking station that Sardir had directed her towards and aside from rolling her eyes at the occasional cat-call she got from the human dockworkers there wasn't a lot for her to do, she put a hand to her earpiece after a few minutes as she looked around. "Sardir, are you sure that this is the right dock?"

"You know Andrea, the search for Reya would go a lot faster if you didn't keep interrupting me." Sardir responded and Andrea sighed in annoyance. "Need I remind you of how long the wait for your shuttle to get docking clearance was?"

"At least then I had an ETA on how long it would take, besides this a merchant vessel and not a public shuttle from the Terminus Systems, you'd think that those things would take less time to be processed." Andrea responded before frowning. "Unless they detected my equipment."

"I doubt it, I took every precaution I could think of and that you and Alicia suggested whilst we made sure that it was undetectable back on Omega." Sardir responded and Andrea's frown deepened. "Speaking of Alicia, you seem to be in a fowler mood than usual, is she making you sleep on the couch again?"

"I'm not even justifying that question with a response other than fuck off and mind your own business." Andrea grunted in response earning a few dirty looks for her use of language but she ignored them. "Besides, I and Alicia aren't that serious, if anything we're more like friends with benefits than a lesbian couple."

"Could've sworn you told me that you swung both ways." Sardir responded and Andrea rolled her eyes.

"We both do but since we're two women who often have sex with each other people still think that we're a lesbian couple, you included." Andrea responded as she rolled her eyes. "And no, for the last time you'll never get to watch us go at it."

"A guy can dream can't he?" Sardir responded and Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Keep me out of your wet dreams or I'll hack your suit's smell filters so that it smelled like a Krogan had taken a massive diarrhoea dump in it." Andrea warned him and Sardir gulped.

"I'll change the subject now." Sardir responded with a gulp before realizing something. "Oh and the Volus has been standing behind you for the past five minutes."

"WHAT?" Andrea yelled out getting many odd stares from passers-by but she ignored them before turning to face the Volus. "How much did you hear?"

"Everything from you mentioning that your and that Alicia woman aren't a couple onwards Earth Clan." The Volus responded as Andrea hopped off the crate. "All though I did notice that the two of you seemed quite unhappy with each other, trouble in the bedroom?"

"She was just mad because I refused to pay for pizza she ordered the last time we rented a room at Azure after a successful, high paying job for a fun weekend and yes, that means exactly what you think." Andrea sighed as she shook her head. "And before you ask that threat was meant for the Quarian hacker you met on Omega."

"I figured as much." The Volus responded before motioning to Andrea to follow him and she did so. "The equipment is just this way, I was worried about whether or not it would get past security as I sure you were as well but everything checked out."

"No offence but I'd rather confirm it with my own eyes." Andrea responded and the Volus nodded in understanding before leading her to where the crates were being unloaded from his ship, without another word he had one of subordinates open the crate for him and Andrea walked up to it, inside was a suit of heavy armour with various weapons and add-ons. "Good, it's all here, I just need somewhere to get changed."

"Before you do that." The Volus commented as she turned to him. "I want another thousand credits."

"I already paid you two hundred thousand back on Omega and you want more?" Andrea asked as her eyes narrowed. "That wasn't part of the original deal anyway."

"Your right, it wasn't." The Volus responded as the other subordinates stepped forward. "But I and my men risked a long prison term just so you could kill one Quarian, I think it's only fair that I get compensated for my trouble, and no, performing sexual acts on my men won't change my mind."

"_And I think it's only fair that he can go fuck himself, wait, I've got an idea." _Andrea thought as she folded her arms. "Remind me, did I ever tell you why I wanted to kill this one Quarian?"

"No, you didn't." The Volus responded and Andrea grinned. "Why?"

"That Quarian has a bounty on her head, a huge bounty." Andrea said as she looked at her fingernails mockingly. "Half a million credits for bringing her in alive, a million credits for just bringing in her head." Andrea added and the Volus' men looked between each other as they digested what she had just said. "If you go back to Omega and wait I promise that you'll get everything you deserve and more."

"You'll cut me and my men in on the bounty?" The Volus asked and Andrea nodded. "Aren't you also cutting in your crew on the bounty as well? That won't exactly leave you with a lot of credits to enjoy."

"Let me worry about that." Andrea responded and the Volus paused. "So what will it be?"

"We'll wait on Omega, I apologize for the misunderstanding." The Volus responded before he and his men got back on the ship taking the rest of the crates with them and minutes later the ship took off, once it had disappeared from site Andrea put a hand to her earpiece.

"Sardir, did the crew catch all that?" Andrea asked as she examined the equipment closely.

"We did." Another female voice rang out that Andrea recognized as Alicia's voice and she grinned. "I'm guessing you're not going to follow through on that?"

"He just tried to rip me off, what do you think?" Andrea asked as she approached the crate with her equipment. "When he docks on Omega you guys are to ambush them and kill them all, save the Volus for last and make an example of him."

"I was hoping you'd say that." Alicia responded and Andrea grinned. "And by the way, I'm over the whole pizza controversy but once this is all over we're spending a whole week at Azure to "celebrate"."

"I'm guessing that celebration won't involve the rest of the crew?" Andrea asked with a big grin on her face.

"You know it babe, I'll call when those idiots are dealt with." Alicia responded before Sardir took over.

"Sorry about that, Alicia had to take over when you mentioned the pizza incident." Sardir responded and Andrea nodded. "And as for the Volus, well I can think of a few ways that I can make his end extremely painful and drawn out."

"Didn't think you had it in you Sardir." Andrea responded and Sardir chuckled.

"I don't like being ripped off either and I never liked that guy from the start, trust me, it'll be my pleasure." Sardir responded and Andrea nodded in response. "One more thing, what about the ship?"

"Well the guys have been complaining about not having a ship to expand our activities since the last one crash landed on that one planet with the Thrasher Maw nest that we just happened to crash land on." Andrea responded with a chuckle. "I think I remember you setting a galaxy record for fastest shitting of pants when the maw came up."

"Ugh, don't remind me, I was lucky that we were rescued by a Quarian ship because I'd rather not think about the numerous infections I would've caught if I had gotten changed on that planet." Sardir responded with an annoyed grunt. "Besides, you're hardly one to talk, you screamed out so many f-bombs when the maw came up that if this was a TV show you would've broken the censor beep."

"Guilty as charged." Andrea admitted with a small laugh. "I still can't believe we managed to kill that maw with the weapons we salvaged from the crash, anyway that merchant vessel is going to be our mobile headquarters."

"Good thinking, it's a decent sized frigate and B'Tal can fly frigates." Sardir responded and Andrea nodded in response. "And if you're looking for a private place to get changed, well I almost suggested getting changed on the ship but that's on its way back to Omega, luckily I had a back-up plan, brought a cheap apartment on the wards in your mother's name, don't worry I'm handing the rent."

"Just send me the co-ordinates." Andrea responded and grinned when she received them. And how am I going to haul around a crate of armour and weapons without alerting C-Sec."

"Use your biotics to levitate it to the front of the docks, a moving van is waiting for you since I made the call whilst you were signing the Volus's death warrant." Sardir responded and she nodded before doing so.

*later*

The wait for Doneya to wake up from the surgery to amputate his leg was a long one which left Anola and Varnus wondering if Doneya would ever wake up from the surgery at all, McKansa and Andrews had gotten bored during the wait and had left to interrogate the two human thugs before they could be discharged from the hospital, eventually however the Salarian doctor approached the two officers.

"My apologies for the wait officers, Doneya insisted on having an attorney present before he got interviewed by anyone." The Salarian said as the two officers stood up. "Given what he is being charged with I'm not surprised."

"And that means we get to deal with another public defence lawyer, terrific." Varnus grunted in annoyance as the Salarian led them to the room Doneya occupied. "Did you catch the attorney's name by any chance?"

"I didn't but what I can tell you is that she is an Elcor." The Salarian responded and Anola gave him a surprised look. "I even told her that I would not want to be present for any trials she were she was defending a client."

"I know what you mean, I'm pretty sure that I'd be a Matriarch by the time she had finished her opening statement." Anola responded and Varnus shook his head.

"You two may joke but if this Elcor is who I think she is then McKansa and Andrews have their work cut out for them." Varnus responded as the Salarian stopped in front of the hospital door and opened it for them, Doneya was lying on the bed staring at the stump that used to be his right leg when the door opened. _"And it is, great." _Varnus thought as they entered the room and the door closed behind them. "Katriel, seems we can't stop bumping into each other."

"Polite greeting, it is good to see you again Varnus." Katriel responded as she turned to the two officers. "Confused, I was under the impression that this case was being worked on by two human officers."

"It is but we believe Doneya has information related to our current case." Anola responded as she started typing away at her Omni-Tool. "I'm Officer Anola Tr'Santi and you already know Varnus, and as tempted as I am to ask how you know each other we have places to go and other people to question."

"Is this about the bitch who did this to me?!" Doneya asked as he pointed to the stump that was once his leg. "We thought she'd be as easy as the other girls we targeted, instead we got our asses kicked."

"_And as tempted as I am to say that he deserved it, well, I'm not one to rub salt in the wound." _Anola thought as she got Andrea's old mugshot up. "Two things to keep in mind before we show you this mugshot Doneya, first is that we believe that she was wearing hair extensions."

"To make getting onto the Citadel easier, right?" Doneya asked and Anola nodded. "I couldn't tell the difference, all humans look the same to me, what's the other thing?"

"The other thing is that this is an old mugshot, it was taken when she was arrested for robbery in Scotland at the age of seventeen and she's twenty-three now." Anola responded and Doneya nodded before Anola showed him the mugshot. _"Not sure why I'm even bothering, he just said that all humans look the same to him…."_

"That's her." Doneya interrupted Anola's train of thought and the Asari looked up. "Like you said, she's older now and had longer hair than she did in that mugshot but I'll never forget the face of the woman who did this to me." Doneya elaborated as he motioned towards his leg. "If you catch this Andrea bitch then she won't survive a day in prison, I have a lot of friends on the inside."

"That might just give us more reasons to put her in protective custody if we do catch her." Varnus responded as Anola turned off her Omni-Tool. "We're done here but you won't get much of a breather, our colleagues who are working your case are very eager to talk to you."

"Tell them that any questions they have for me go through my lawyer." Doneya grunted as the two officers left the hospital room.

"How did it go?" Andrews asked and the two officers looked up seeing McKansa and Andrews standing nearby.

"The woman who defended herself against him and the other two thugs is our mercenary." Anola responded with a frown. "Obviously that means she's on the Citadel but that bad news is that we now face a race against the clock if we want to protect Reya from her."

"We got a couple of clues from the alley, we found fibres on the two guns we found in the alley and black hair extensions in a nearby dumpster." McKansa added and Anola nodded. "We sent both items off to the lab for analyses, might want to check that out in the morning."

"Right, they'll likely be done with them by then." Varnus responded before yawning. "What did you find on the guns other than fibres?"

"One had never even been loaded let alone fired, that ties in with the victim's testimony that the thugs intimidated them with guns after they were done with them." McKansa added and Anola frowned. "The second gun had recently been loaded yet it was empty when we found it."

"Maybe Andrea emptied the gun to prevent them from coming after her?" Varnus added after thinking for a moment. "She lives on Omega where she works as a freelance mercenary, it makes sense that she would know her way around guns,"

"Not going to lie, I kind of wish she had emptied the gun into Doneya and the other thugs but I guess that she didn't want to attract C-Sec's attention just yet." McKansa responded before yawning. "Well, if you want our help let us know in the morning." McKansa responded as she checked her watch. "Once we get those scumbags booked in we'll be done with the case until it goes to trial and we all know how long that process can take."

"If we think of something we'll give you a call." Varnus responded before checking his watch. "But as much as I'd love to chat with Cameron Jacobs and Jared Black it's getting late, I think we'll go back to C-Sec, clock out and pick up where we left off in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Anola nodded in agreement. "Thanks for the help guys, see you in the morning."

"Anytime Anola." Andrews nodded in response before the two officers walked off.

*half a galaxy away*

Whilst it was getting late on the Citadel it was a different story all together on Omega where it was early in the morning, in the time it took Anola and Varnus to talk to Doneya the Volus's merchant ship had arrived at the former asteroid turned space station/wretched hive of crime and villainy and the Volus was unloading his stock.

"Hurry up, the faster we can get this done the faster we can drink to our success in Afterlife." The Volus commented as his men worked tirelessly to unload the rest of the merchant's crates. "The mercenary gang promised us a big payout and I want to be ready for when it arrives."

"Funny you should mention that Shonfor." Sardir's voice rang out and the Volus, now known as Shonfor, turned around and saw a male Quarian in a beige suit leaning against the railing.

"Ah, the Rannoch Clan is here." Shonfor commented as he approached Sardir. "And if you're here then Andrea must've told you about the deal."

"Okay, first off, don't call me Rannoch Clan." Sardir responded as he kicked off the railing and walked up to Shonfor. "I've never even seen Rannoch, my family was exiled decades ago and the Quarian government refuses to let them onto Rannoch, if anything you should be calling me Omega Clan or just Sardir." Sardir added as some of the other members of the crew got into position. "Second, do you know what the one rule of Omega is?"

"Yes, don't fuck with Aria." Shonfor responded and Sardir nodded.

"Here's the thing, the official rule is don't fuck with Aria, don't know about actually fucking Aria but that's neither here or there." Sardir responded before drawing his gun and pointing it at Shonfor. "But there's a second unofficial rule, don't rip off mercenaries who live on Omega! And whilst Andrea wasn't on Omega at the time you tried to rip her off and her crew, I happen to be a member of her crew."

"Open fire!" Shonfor called out but before his men could draw their weapons the rest of Andrea's crew, two Krogan, a Turian and a human female came out of hiding and opened fire on the men, with little time to defend themselves the men stood no chance and the female mercenary marched up to Shonfor. "A…..Alicia….."

"In the flesh." Alicia responded as she pointed her gun at Shonfor, she was taller than Andrea but was the same age as her and had elbow length dark brown hair and blue eyes, much like Andrea she was very attractive though her accent was more Irish than Scottish. "Like Sardir said, we mercs don't like being ripped off and when you tried to extort Andrea for credits you did just that."

"But…..but I was risking a thirty year sentence for weapons smuggling by helping her out, I just wanted to be compensated for my trouble." Shonfor asserted and Alicia glared at him. "Besides, if I'm dead than my business partners will come looking for me, they won't be happy."

"Go ahead, send them, we'll just kill them too." Alicia responded before holstering her gun. "But in the meantime we'll be taking three things from you, the payment Andrea made out to you, your ship and your life."

"No, please….." The Volus pleaded only to be pistol whipped by Sardir knocking him out.

"Tryak, Carsak, get this idiot to HQ, we'll deal with him there." Alicia told the two Krogan who nodded before picking up the Volus and carrying him off. "Crarnus, can you fly this thing?"

"I was a pilot in the Turian Military remember?" Crarnus responded as he looked over the ship. "Not exactly the same as piloting a military ship but there's nothing I can't fly, give me until tomorrow and I'll have the rest of Shonfor's supplies emptied out and the controls figured out."

"Good, call me when you're done emptying the ship, I might be able to sell them off in the markets for a pretty penny." Sardir responded and Crarnus nodded. "In the meantime I'll work on getting Andrea's money back and finding that Quarian."

"Call me when you're done, or if hit any snags." Alicia responded and Sardir nodded. "Did Andrea get to the apartment okay?"

"She called me before she went to bed, called the apartment a shithole but said that it would do for the short time she'll spend on the Citadel." Sardir responded and Alicia grinned at that. "Who knows? Maybe once this is over you two can use that apartment for when you want a cheaper fun weekend?"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen unless you delete the open warrant out for my arrest for that murder two years ago." Alicia responded as she shook her head. "And I don't want to burden you with that whilst your trying to find that Quarian."

"Just saying, I could do that in my sleep." Sardir responded and Alicia shook her head.

"Never liked the Citadel anyway, I'm more suited to Omega than that dump." Alicia responded as she started walking away. "Don't mind the occasional screams you here whilst you're working, that'll probably be Shonfor."

"Funny, you usually only say that when you and Andrea decide to have some fun in the backroom." Sardir responded and Alicia laughed as she shook her head. "Not counting any third wheels you bring along off course."

"You call them third wheels, the other mercs at Afterlife call them the luckiest bastards on Omega." Alicia responded as she shook her head. "Enough joking around, we have work to do."

"Right away." Sardir nodded in agreement before following Alicia. _"Asses like hers and Andrea's make me wish that we'd get that clean room installed already so that I can show them a good time, oh well." _Sardir thought as he checked out Alicia's ass.

"I can tell your checking out my ass Sardir." Alicia commented and Sardir put his hands up defensively.

"Can you blame me?" Sardir asked and Alicia rolled her eyes.

"Nope." Alicia said simply as the two mercs walked off.

*back on the Citadel*

It was the middle of the night on the Citadel and most of the citizens on the Citadel were either asleep or out partying in one of several night clubs on the Wards, however for a select few citizens who made their residence on the Wards there was nowhere for them to go.

"Fucking bullshit." Jared Black grunted under his breath as he leaned back on his cot in his holding cell, Cameron Jacobs was a few cell doors down from him with Urdnot Krek's cell being in between the two men's call. "I was this close to getting laid but that C-Sec officer had to cockblock me, WHO CARES IF I MURDERED THAT BITCH?! I WAS HARDLY THE ONLY ONE SHE CHEATED ON!"

"Keep it down Black!" Krek called out to him and Jared frowned. "You should've followed my advice and left for Omega but NO, you had to think with your dick first!"

"At least my dick works toadface!" Jared shouted back and Krek roared in rage before he tried to bust down the cell door.

"Everyone keep it down, I'm trying to get some sleep!" The Turian cell guard grunted in annoyance as he glared at the two murderers. "Krek, you're in enough trouble as it is, do you really want another murder charge on top of that!"

"Oh sure, you sterilize my race and nobody bats an eye but that jackass mocks me for it and everyone loses their minds!" Krek argued back whilst pointing a finger at the Turian. "The Genophage may have been cured during the Reaper War but we Krogans will never forget what the Turians and the Salarians did to us!"

"I wish he would just shut the fuck up already." Cameron grunted in annoyance but before anyone else could say anything the lights and electronics went off. "Someone forget to pay the electricity bill?"

"Can't be, the electricity bill is paid for by taxpayer money." The Turian officer responded as he went behind his desk, however before he could do anything else the butt of an assault rifle hit him in the back of the head knocking him out.

"What the fuck?!" Cameron and Jared wondered whilst Krek calmed down before a trio of men approached the cells, when they recognized the man in the middle they had different reactions. "You…."


	5. High Stakes

It was now morning on the Citadel Wards and Anola was still asleep in her apartment, she hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night due to everything that had happened yesterday and the day before but right now she wanted to have a lie in.

Unfortunately the sounds of "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC, her personal ringtone, woke her up and the Asari groaned.

"What the hell? I didn't sleep in did I?" Anola wondered before checking her alarm clock, it was half eight in the morning, two hours before it was due to go off, and Anola grabbed her Omni-Tool, put it on and answered the call. "Anola here, what's up?"

"Officer Tr'Santi we need you at C-Sec headquarters immediately." Bailey responded as the human appeared on the Omni-Tool's screen. "If you're too tired to drive then I'll have Varnus pick you up but we have a situation down here."

"What kind of situation?" Anola asked as she rubbed her tired eye.

"There was a blackout at the station last night, during that blackout Cameron Jacobs was broken out of prison and Jared Black was shot execution style." Bailey responded and that news did wonders in terms of waking up Anola. "Don't worry, Krek was left alone so it's unlikely that he'll go after Reya again but we need you down here."

"Send Varnus to pick me up, I need to get dressed unless you want me to show up in my pyjamas." Anola responded as she finally got out of bed. "What about the officer that was handling the night shift last night?"

"He's fine but he's got a concussion, said that he was sucker punched with the butt of an Assault Rifle, he's down at Huerta Memorial." Bailey explained and Anola nodded. "We still don't know what caused the blackout but I'll know more when you get here, Varnus just left so it shouldn't take long for him to get to your apartment."

"I'll be there ASAP Bailey." Anola responded as she cancelled the wake-up call and started getting dressed. _"What the hell happened last night?" _Anola thought as she put on her C-Sec uniform. _"Where were the other cell guards when the power went out? Did they decide to investigate the power outage?" _Anola thought before a knock came at the door. _"Now what?"_

"Pizza Delivery!" A human male voice on the other end called out and Anola blinked.

"_I never ordered any pizza, it's way too early for a meal like that and I don't even like pizza!" _Anola thought with a frown as she grabbed her gun. "You must have the wrong apartment number because I never ordered any pizza."

"Oh sorry bitch, wrong delivery!" The voice responded before kicking down the door and opening fire, Anola quickly dumped behind cover and returned fire. "This is a message from Cameron Jacobs Officer Tr'Santi."

"_I had a feeling that was the case." _Anola thought as she activated her Omni-Tool and sent a message to Varnus.

*meanwhile*

Varnus drove as quickly as he could whilst obeying the speed limit but that didn't last long, after a few minutes of driving a message came over the radio that caused him to spring into action.

"Attention all officers, we're getting reports of shots fired at Apartment 56, Floor 5 at Yikari Heights, repeat, shots fired." The dispatcher rang out and Varnus' head snapped around.

"_Oh spirits! That's Anola's apartment number!" _Varnus thought before picking up the radio. "Officer Varnus Travekian here, I'm five minutes away from Officer Tr'Santi's apartment, I'll deal with it."

"Copy Officer Travekian, over and out." The dispatcher responded and Varnus put the radio down.

"_First Cameron gets busted out of jail, then Jared gets executed and now this, spirits what else can happen today?" _Varnus thought as he got a message on his Omni-Tool, when he checked it he saw the following message from Anola:

"Just got a rude wake-up call from a gun toting maniac, please get here before dad turns him into Swiss cheese." Anola's message read out and Varnus shook his head.

"_I keep forgetting how overprotective Thrax is of Anola." _Varnus thought before responding to the message. "I'm on my way, try to stay alive in the meantime." Varnus read the message out-loud before sending it. _"I hope I can get to her apartment in time." _Varnus thought as he sped along.

*back at the apartment*

"_Dad lives just a few floors down from me, he's bound to have heard about the gun fight going on."_ Anola thought as she returned fired at the thug who quickly ducked out of the way, Anola ducked behind the overturned desk that she was using for cover and managed to get a good luck at his face. _"Short black hair, sunglasses so dark that I can't see his eyes, nice suit, he almost looks like someone from that old film series Men in Black." _Anola thought as the thug returned fire. "You realize that C-Sec will come after you if you kill me right?"

"I'm not worried about your fellow officers, lady." The thug yelled back as he started to enter the apartment. "So why don't you just stay still and make my job easier."

"Why don't you stay still and let me blow you across the room with my shotgun?" Thrax's voice rang out and the thug turned around seeing the old, angry Krogan pointing a shotgun at him. "Name's Urdnot Thrax, the Asari you're trying to kill is my daughter, do you really want to piss me off that much?"

"You lost me at the fact that an Asari fucked a Krogan." The thug admitted whilst he was sweating bullets. "Seriously, did her mom have no standards?"

"Yeah that's right, give me another reason to play "how many holes I can make in an idiot's chest with a single shotgun blast", it's one of my favourite games." Thrax threatened him as Anola started to close in on the thug.

"That won't be necessary Thrax." Varnus said as he entered the apartment with his gun drawn. "C-Sec, put the gun down!"

"If I where you I'd listen to him." Anola said as she approached the thug. "I want details, who sent you to kill me? Is it tied with what happened at C-Sec last night?"

"That you'll have to find out on your own!" The thug responded before putting the gun under his chin, before either of them could stop him he pulled the trigger committing suicide.

"I'll make the call to the coroner's office." Varnus sighed as the thug's lifeless corpse fell to the ground, the three of them where covered in the thug's blood and Anola seemed especially shocked by what had transpired. "Anola, are you hurt?"

"Just shaken up, otherwise I'm fine." Anola responded as she holstered her gun. "But I can't stay here, it's a crime scene now."

"I'd offer to let you stay at my apartment Anola but I could only afford a one bedroom apartment." Thrax responded as he holstered his shotgun and Varnus holstered his gun. "I remember Anola mentioning that you have a family Varnus?"

"Yes, a wife and two children, they've met Anola before and she gets along with them." Varnus responded before thinking for a moment. "But on the other hand that could be seen as a conflict of interest, as a friend I want to help you Anola but as an officer I have to treat you as a witness."

"Its fine, I can stay at another friend's house until the investigation ends." Anola responded as Varnus put a hand to his earpiece. "And I thought the report we had to make after we saved Reya was going to be a nightmare, this makes that report seem like a wet dream by comparison."

"I'd rather not know what goes on in your wet dreams if that's the best comparison you can come up with." Thrax responded and Anola grinned, Thrax turned his attention to the body where something caught his eye. "There, in the left breast pocket, is it just me or is there a piece of paper in there?"

"Good eye." Varnus responded as he bent over. "The coroner and CSU are on the way, I'll make sure that they know about the paper but for now you had better be ready for any questions the responding officer will have."

"I've been a police officer for most of my life Varnus, both here and on Thessia, I know how this goes." Anola responded as she took a deep breath. "All I need to do is tell him the truth about what happened."

"Might be a bit trickier, since an officer was involved they might send someone from IA to interview you." Varnus responded before spotting Thrax leaving the apartment. "Thrax, you need to stay put as well."

"You realize how bad the smell from that corpse is getting right?" Thrax asked with a frown. "I'm just stepping out for some fresh air."

"In that case keep an eye out for CSU and when they arrive direct them here." Varnus responded once he picked up on the smell. "Unless you can think of anything else Anola….."

"I literally just thought of something." Anola responded as she folded her arms. "Cameron Jacobs gets busted out of jail, Jared Black gets killed and they sent a thug after me in an attempt to have me killed and the thug said that the hit was a message from Cameron Jacobs, am I the only one thinking that Steele is behind the bounty after all?"

"Bounties aren't Steele's style, Cameron said it himself, but on the other hand they might send someone after Reya." Varnus commented as he put a hand to his earpiece again. "I'm going to call in the favour we were promised by Andrews and McKansa yesterday and have them keep an eye on Reya whilst helping the officers that Bailey had sent to keep an eye on her."

"Good idea, for now I just have to wait." Anola said as she sighed, she looked at the thug's corpse one last time and shook her head. _"I'll bet every credit in my bank account that this guy had ties to whoever broke Cameron out of jail and killed Jared, question is, who was he?"_

*meanwhile*

On the other side of Tayseri Ward was Andrea's temporary apartment and unlike Anola Andrea had been awake for the past hour or so.

"In late breaking news an attempt was made on C-Sec officer Anola Tr'Santi's life this morning, she survived the attack but her would be killer took his own life rather than be caught." The human female news anchor said other the radio as Andrea stepped out of a shower and wrapped a towel around her naked body. "This follows the earlier incident at C-Sec where Cameron Jacobs was broken out of his holding cell whilst the lead suspect in the rape and murder of Claudia Steele Jared Black was shot dead in his cell, the executor is expected to make a statement to the press this afternoon."

"_If he was dumb enough to be arrested for a crime like that then he deserved to be shot." _Andrea thought as she turned off the radio, her laptop was sitting on a computer desk near her bed and had extranet connectivity so that she could keep in contact with the rest of the crew back on Omega. "_Got to love it when someone is dumb enough to practically allow me to leach off their extranet service." _Andrea thought before she started to remove her towel intending to get dressed.

"Morning Andrea." Sardir said as the video chat came on. "We have a lot to go over so….." Sardir trailed off when he saw the nearly naked Andrea disrobing and grinned under his helmet. _"Oh how I wish I was in a clean room right now!"_

"Sardir, why did you stop?" Alicia asked as she marched up to the computer screen, when she saw Andrea disrobing she face palmed. "I'm going to have to stop you there babe." Alicia said as she shoved Sardir aside and Andrea stopped. "Another second and Sardir would've been jacking off to your naked body." Alicia added and Andrea glanced over at her laptop.

"What the hell? I didn't have a video feed open!" Andrea yelled out as she covered herself up. "Did you tell Sardir to do that Alicia?"

"Yeah so we could give you an update, we didn't know that you were in the shower though I wouldn't have minded joining you." Alicia said with a big grin on her face which Andrea returned. "Anyway as much as I enjoy seeing you naked this wasn't a pleasure call despite what Sardir might tell you." Alicia responded as Andrea turned around. "First the good news, we have the ship, Sardir got your money back and Shonfor…..well let's just say that his business partners will be in for a rude awakening tomorrow."

"That's good to hear." Andrea responded as she sat down. "I'm guessing you'll deal with those partners when they start investigating?"

"You know it." Alicia responded with a nod. "What's the latest news on your end?"

"I called every contact I have here last night and they all confirmed the same thing, Reya is in protective custody." Andrea responded with a frown. "Also some crazy shit is happening at C-Sec HQ."

"Define crazy shit." Alicia responded with a raised eyebrow as Andrea searched for a news article about today's events.

"One idiot was busted out of jail, another idiot killed and an attempt was made on a C-Sec officer's life whilst she was in her apartment." Andrea responded as she sent over the news article. "Just sent an article over if you want to see for yourself."

"I'll read it when I have some spare time." Alicia responded when she got Andrea's e-mail. "What do you know about the two idiots?"

"Not a lot, I heard that they are tied to a local mob boss, one Victor Steele." Andrea responded with a frown. "He owns Steele's Bar and Grille, think of it as the Citadel's piss poor attempt to emulate Afterlife."

"Except for the fact that Afterlife doesn't serve food obviously." Sardir chimed in and Andrea's eyes narrowed. "Maybe you can try going there, I have a feeling that this Victor Steele guy might know a thing or two about Reya's whereabouts, call it a hunch."

"That might be the first good idea you've had all week Sardir." Andrea responded and Sardir went to defend himself. "Hacking the scanners doesn't count, that was Alicia's idea."

"Off course, how could I forget?" Sardir responded as Andrea heard typing noises. "Just sent the co-ordinates to your Omni-Tool but I wouldn't suggest going there in nothing but a bath towel, you know, unless you intend to bang every man and woman in that bar."

"Do I look like a fucking porn star? Don't answer that." Andrea responded as she heard a ping from her Omni-Tool. "Thanks Captain Obvious."

"Anytime Major Ass." Sardir responded only to get slapped on the back off the head by Alicia. "I was talking about her ass!"

"I know." Alicia responded before turning to Andrea. "Whatever supplies Shonfor had have either been sold off in the markets or taken for our own personal use."

"That wouldn't happen to include a crate of sex toys, would it?" Andrea asked with a big grin on her face and Alicia's grin grew wider.

"Hurry up and get back here so you can find out." Alicia responded and Andrea's grin grew wider.

"Great, my bosses are smoking hot bi sexual cock teases." Sardir grunted under his breath only to get slapped by Alicia again. "You know what? I'm going to shut up and keep working!"

"You do that." Alicia responded before turning to Andrea. "Do you really have to get dressed? You look much better with no clothes on!"

"You would know given how many times you've gotten up close and personal with my naked body." Andrea responded with a grin on her face. "But I have too, unless you want me arrested for indecent exposure."

"I'm pretty sure that the majority of the Citadel's population won't complain babe, I'm certainly not complaining." Alicia responded before sighing. "But as much as I enjoy the show I have to clean up the target range, after he gave his bank account details to Sardir we used Shonfor as a live test dummy for our guns, lasted a long time considering that he's a Volus."

"I thought that was the Krogan's jobs?" Sardir asked and Alicia shook her head.

"It was but they fucked off to Afterlife when it was halfway done, I told them to bring me back two Asari Hookers to make up for it." Alicia responded as she stood up. "Don't worry Andy, this time I'm actually paying for the order."

"I thought I told you never to call me that in front of the other crew members." Andrea grunted in annoyance and Alicia grinned. "What about the ship itself? How long before we can use it without drawing attention to ourselves?"

"B'Tal and Crarnus have been working on it since last night, shouldn't be too long now." Alicia responded before turning around. "Make sure to close the video call before you get dressed babe." Alicia added and Andrea did so before Sardir could protest.

"_I swear if Sardir wasn't so useful I would've left him on the planet with the Thrasher Maw." _Andrea thought as she stated looking for clothes to wear. _"Anyway, it's a bar so I should probably wear something casual, good thing they thought to include more than one set of clothing with my equipment." _Andrea thought as she discarded her bath robe and put her bra and panties on. _"Still, what the hell is happening at C-Sec? You'd think they'd have better security being the police force for the hub of galactic activity in Citadel Space and all that." _Andrea thought before shaking her head. _"If anything this will make finding Reya easier and with any luck I'll be on my way back to Omega by the time they realize that she's dead."_

*a bit later*

By now forensics had cleared the thug's corpse out of Anola's apartment and the Asari was waiting for the Internal Affairs officer, Varnus had opted to stay with her whilst Thrax had left the building all together to do some shopping.

"The IA agent can't be too much longer." Varnus commented as he approached Anola, the thug's corpse was being carried to the coroner's van whilst the paper that was in his breast pocket was well on its way to the lab. "You know how Citadel traffic can get!"

"Didn't stop you from showing up when you did." Anola commented with a small grin. "Thanks for showing up when you did, if you hadn't then I'm pretty sure the thug wouldn't have had to commit suicide for Krogan related reasons."

"Krogan are one of the leading causes of death in the galaxy." Varnus responded with a sigh as they heard footsteps approach. "That's probably the IA agent."

"You're right as always Officer Varnus." Another Asari's voice rang out and the IA officer stepped in, she looked to be a few inches taller than Anola and was probably older. "Officer Tr'Santi, I am Sarra Shiios, Internal Affairs, I understand that you've had a rough morning so I'll try to make this quick." Sarra added before turning to Varnus. "Sorry Varnus, I understand that she's your partner but I need you to wait outside."

"No need to apologize Officer Shiios, I'll be outside if you need me." Varnus responded before leaving the apartment.

"How about we start from the top Anola?" Sarra asked and Anola nodded. "What happened?"

"I was woken up by a call from Commander Bailey, I'm guessing you've heard of what happened at C-Sec last night?" Anola asked and Sarra nodded. "Needless to say the news of Jared Black's death and Cameron Jacobs being busted out of jail woke me up in a hurry but as I was getting dressed there was a knock at the door."

"Who was the other side?" Sarra asked and Anola shook her head.

"Here's a hint, he's currently being carted out to the coroner's van." Anola responded and Sarra frowned once she got the idea. "Initially he posed as a pizza delivery guy but that set off more than a few alarm bells in my head."

"I know right? Who eats pizza for breakfast?" Sarra asked and Anola shook her head.

"I don't even like pizza full stop! There's a few human foods I like and pizza is definitely not one of them." Anola responded before motioning to her gun which was being carried off in an evidence bag. "That and I'm pretty sure I would've remembered ordering a pizza and like I said, I had barely been awake for a couple of minutes by that point, figuring that it was a set-up I grabbed my gun which ended up being a smart decision."

"Yes, witness reports say that he kicked down the door and opened fire after you didn't answer the door." Sarra responded as she checked her notes. "A Krogan came to your aid just before Officer Varnus, right?"

"Yeah, my dad." Anola responded and the older Asari gave her a curious look. "Long story short, I'm the product of a one night stand."

"To be fair it is easier to count Asari who aren't at this point, as for the Krogan dad thing, trust me I know Asari with more interesting dads than that including one with a Vorcha for a dad." Sarra responded and Anola gave her a confused look. "Don't look at me, I never got around to asking how that came about, anyway that should cover it since I already know that the perp blew his brains out before you could arrest him, your free to work today but I wouldn't exactly encourage it."

"I've been a cop most of my life, I'm not about to let this stop me." Anola responded and Sarra nodded before stepping aside to let her go, Anola left her apartment and turned to Varnus. "Were the lab techs able to finish their work despite the blackout?"

"Just got a call from them, they finished the analyses whilst you were talking to the IA agent and they've just started on the paper we found in the thug's breast pocket." Varnus responded as he turned to Anola. "The DNA on the hair extensions match the DNA sample that they got from Edinburgh PD from Andrea's last arrest, the one we used the mugshot from."

"That just confirms what we already know, that Andrea's on the Citadel." Anola responded with a frown. "What about the fibres on the guns?"

"They came from gloves, black in colour." Varnus responded as he checked the message and Anola frowned. "If she's wearing gloves then finding her will be difficult since that means no fingerprints."

"Doesn't surprise me since she was in and out of jail since she was fifteen before she moved to Omega at the age of eighteen according to her file." Anola responded and Varnus frowned. "Something wrong?"

"You know when I said that I'd do some digging into Andrea's early arrests?" Varnus asked and Anola nodded. "I found something disturbing, crime runs in her family."

"What do you mean?" Anola asked and Varnus shook his head.

"I'll tell you when we're back at C-Sec, I don't think she'd appreciate the fact that we're talking about this out in the open." Varnus responded before leading Anola out of the apartment complex.

*meanwhile on Omega*

The building the served as the HQ for Andrea's crew was a small one that had previously belonged to a merchant who had borrowed money from the Blue Suns and paid for it with his life, the Blue Suns took over the building at first but with their numbers diminished by the Reaper War Andrea's crew was able to move in and take the building for themselves which now included a firing range out the back and several rooms for the crew to sleep in, however the crew still hadn't gotten around to making a clean room for Sardir meaning that he was the only crew member who lived in his own apartment.

Speaking of Sardir he was using the range and he was using the pistol he had attacked Shonfor with earlier, the exiled Quarian may have been a specialist hacker but he could more than hold his own using a gun having learned how to use it from an early age, once he was done he pressed the button to bring the target forward and frowned when he saw the results.

"Getting sloppy, need to work on my aim more." Sardir sighed to himself as he reloaded his gun, the door to the range opened up and Sardir glanced over his shoulder. "Finally done with the hookers the Krogans brought home?" Sardir asked when he saw Alicia standing in the doorway having changed out of her armour and into a midriff bearing red tanktop, blue jeans and black boots.

"Please, I could've gone on all night with them!" Alicia responded as she entered the range and closed the door behind her. "But I have work to do and I did tip them."

"I'm going to assume that you mean with credits and not with a penis." Sardir responded and Alicia rolled her eyes. "I heard back from Andrea whilst they were eating you out by the way."

"Did she visit the bar you mentioned?" Alicia asked as she picked up one of the guns and inspected it whilst Sardir shook her head.

"She's too busy trying to pick an outfit, women am I…..?" Sardir trailed off as Alicia glared at him. "Forget I said that, anyway it's still early in the morning over on the Citadel so she might be waiting for the nightlife to kick off."

"Makes sense, bars are no fun during the day." Alicia nodded in agreement as she finished loading her gun, the two mercs heard more sexual moaning and Alicia grinned. "Nicholai must be having some fun with them."

"They are going to be disappointed when they see the big Russian's not so big dick." Sardir commented with a chuckle and Alicia raised an eyebrow at him. "Honestly have you seen how many times he's injected steroids into his arm since he joined the crew? I'm surprised that he can get any action since his dick must be microscopic."

"I'll be sure to tell him you said that." Alicia said with a grin and Sardir gulped. "Besides, his biotic skills might just rival mine and Andrea's and he's a hell of a shot so he's a valuable member of the team."

"And one of the biggest ladies men on Omega despite his steroid addiction." Sardir responded as he sent the target back. "Besides, didn't he join the crew because he was able to talk you and Andrea into going back to his place for a three-way?"

"That's only half of the story and besides, if his steroids are affecting his dick we didn't see it." Alicia responded as she shook her head. "The effects, not his dick before you ask." Alicia added and Sardir shook his head. "The rest of the story is that some assholes tried to kill us the following morning and he helped us beat them off."

"Unless you hand jobbed them into submission you might want to rephrase that." Sardir pointed out and Alicia laughed. "There's a sentence I never thought I'd say out loud."

"By "beat them off" I meant "gunned them down brutally", the offer to join our crew came immediately afterwards." Alicia responded as she laughed. "Off course the fact that we were forced to fight naked made it look like a scene out of a porno."

"Well to be fair you did distract them." Sardir responded and Alicia rolled her eyes when she figured out what he meant.

"They didn't exactly get to enjoy the site for long and besides, considering that we were both naked we were lucky to escape with as few injuries as we did." Alicia commented as she pressed the button to allow her target to come up. "We later found out who had tried to kill us and I'm sure you remember that job."

"I only remember it for how easy it was to break into their system, the morons didn't even bother to set a password for their network let alone a firewall." Sardir commented with a chuckle as Alicia emptied the gun into the target, once she was done she put the gun down and turned around. "You're not going to admire your work?"

"I don't have Andrea's ego, I know how good I am and I don't feel the need to brag about it, unlike her." Alicia responded as she left the practice range. "By the way, the rest of the crew is planning a trip to Afterlife later, want to come with us?"

"Didn't the Krogans drink enough earlier?" Sardir commented and Alicia nodded with a grin on her face.

"They did, main difference is that they can still drink all the other members of the crew under the table." Alicia responded before leaving the room, Sardir ignored the hookers having sex with Nicholai in the next room before pressing the button to bring Alicia's target forward.

"_Doesn't have Andrea's ego? Yeah right, at least Andrea is honest about her ego." _Sardir thought before admiring Alicia's handiwork, the Irish Mercenary had managed to get a perfect shot with her gun each time and Sardir shook his head. _"What separates them from other egomaniacal freelancers living on Omega is that they have the skills to match the size of their egos, I guess that's what attracted them to each other." _Sardir thought before holstering his gun and leaving the range. _"Ah what the hell? I could use a drink after putting up with that moronic Volus's screams of pain all day! He actually managed to give me a bigger headache than the last time I had a suit breach!"_

*back on the Citadel*

The scene at C-Sec HQ was pretty chaotic due to the fact that two of the cells that were occupied just a few hours beforehand were now empty with one having blood all over the floor and the cot, Anola and Varnus entered the station and were almost immediately greeted by Bailey.

"I heard about what happened at your apartment Anola." Bailey commented as he approached the two officers. "As if this day couldn't get any crazier."

"What do we know so far?" Anola asked and Bailey motioned for them to follow him.

"Not a lot, the thug and Black are in the coroner's office being autopsied but I think the case of death is pretty damn obvious." Bailey said as he pointed to the bloodstained cell. "As much as I'd like to say that we have surveillance footage of what happened last night we don't because of the blackout, hell we were only able to get power back online about two hours ago."

"Whoever did this obviously knew what they were doing." Varnus commented with a thoughtful look on his face. "Do we have anything that can give an indication of who was behind this?"

"Just two things, the technicians say that the building's power was shut off remotely and you'd need serious technical skill to pull something like that off, the other thing is an eyewitness, the only prisoner they left alone." Bailey commented as he folded his arms. "Urdnot Krek."

"Wonderful, I get to chat with him again." Varnus grunted in annoyance and Anola shook her head.

"Let me handle it this time, I don't think he'd bring in Carverse for a witness statement." Anola responded and Varnus nodded. "Any idea why they left him alone and broke out a glorified middle man?"

"Your guess is as good as mine but now we're back to square one in regards to Reya." Bailey commented with a frown. "Whoever did this was a professional with a clear target, they could've freed every inmate in this block awaiting trial but instead they chose to release Cameron and kill Jared."

"Sounds like the thug who tried to killed me." Anola commented and Bailey turned to her. "Wait, you said they before you mentioned Krek?"

"Yeah, Krek said that there was three people who approached the cells after the guard was knocked out but he didn't recognize them." Bailey said as he folded his arms. "And like you said, only one thug went after you."

"Yeah, luckily for me I was able to pick up on the fact that something wasn't right when he tried posing as a Pizza Delivery Guy when I hate pizza." Anola responded as she shook her head. "Have they printed the guy yet?"

"The coroner did that before he started the autopsy and sent the fingerprints to the lab, we should know who tried to kill you in a few hours." Bailey responded before frowning. "You know what I'm thinking? The attempt on your life and, well, this, is connected." Bailey said as he motioned towards the crime scene in front of them.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too, when I arrested Cameron yesterday he said that I'd have to worry about Steele sending people after me." Anola responded before frowning. "Obviously we can't ask him about it." Anola said before she turned to Krek's cell. "So are we going to leave the big guy there in between two crime scenes?"

"Obviously not, we're going to move him to another cell soon and once the crime scene is cleared we'll put him back in his cell." Bailey responded as she shook his head. "Speaking of crime scenes, what do you plan to do about the fact that your apartment is now a crime scene?"

"I'll be staying at a friend's house until I'm cleared to move back in, I called and made the arrangements on the way over." Anola responded before noticing that McKenna was calling her over. "Looks like McKenna wants me for something, can you excuse me for a moment?"

"Go ahead, I'll let you know when Krek is in a talkative mood." Bailey responded and Anola walked over to McKenna and Varnus joined her.

"Sorry to interrupt the chat with Bailey but I think I might have something." McKenna said as she motioned for them to follow her. "As you know the Quarins that Cyber Crime uses to maintain its computers are freelancers and as the head of the Cyber Crime unit I handle their pay checks."

"You think whoever broke in last night paid off one of the Quarians to cause the blackout?" Varnus asked once he got the idea and McKenna nodded.

"I know they did and I know who they paid off." McKenna responded as she stopped outside the side room where Reya had talked with Anola where an older, male Quarian in a grey suit sat. "Since I handle their pay checks I have their bank account details and I enlisted the help of the Iron Maiden again."

"Right, you rummaging through another person's bank account on a company computer would be career suicide." Varnus responded with a nod. "What did she find?"

"Most of the Quarians had fairly typical transactions, online purchases, shopping in general, you get the idea, however Triya here had received a large sum of money hours before the blackout happened from Hammer and Anvil Conglomerate." McKenna explained and Varnus looked at her with confusion.

"I've never heard of that company." Varnus responded and McKenna nodded.

"There's a good reason why, according to the Iron Maiden it's a dummy company set up by Victor Steele for money laundering purposes." McKenna responded and the two officers nodded getting the idea as McKenna handed them a bank statement from Triya's bank account. "I'll leave him to you." McKenna added and the two officers entered the side room.

"Ah, you're the officer who talked with that poor girl yesterday." Triya commented when he recognized Anola. "I hope she is well."

"She's in protective custody Triya but if I where you I'd be more worried about you." Anola responded as the two officers sat down. "Where were you when the blackout happened last night?"

"I was at a colleague's station fixing his computer, unfortunately I wasn't able to finish my work until a couple of hours ago and after that McKenna asked me to wait in here." Triya responded with a nod. "What's this about?"

"We've been reliably informed that you were paid off a few hours before the blackout happened, care to explain that?" Varnus asked and Triya nodded.

"Certainly, yesterday was when McKenna paid us for our hard work." Triya responded with a nod and Anola shook her head.

"Except the payment you received was a few thousand credits more than the other Quarians were paid." Anola responded as she showed him the bank statement and Triya was clearly getting nervous at this point. "Now I'm not exactly a tech geek by any stretch of the imagination and I'm sure that McKenna pays you handsomely for your work but this seems more than a little excessive even from someone with a Quarian's natural tech talents, how do you explain that?"

"I…..I think I should speak to a lawyer." Triya responded and Varnus shook his head.

"If we were interested in pressing charges against you we'd be conducting an interrogation in the interrogation room." Varnus responded and Triya gulped. "But say we were interested in arresting you, what do you think we'd charge you with?"

"Err, bribery, vandalism, not exactly serious crimes." Triya responded and Anola shook her head.

"Try accessory to murder and aiding in the escape of a fugitive." Anola responded and Triya was clearly taken aback by this. "During the blackout one prisoner was murdered and the other one was broken out of jail, so let me ask you again, how do you explain that?"

"Keelah, they said that no one would be hurt!" Triya said clearly distressed over the situation and the two officers shared a look.

"Who?" Varnus asked and Triya gulped. "Listen Triya, my partner was almost murdered by a thug who we believe is tied to the three thugs who broke in last night, we can either continue our discussion here or in the interrogation room and trust me, you will need a lawyer because the moment you enter he interrogation room is the moment we start pressing charges against you."

"You must understand, I have a daughter around Reya's age and she wants to go to university, I couldn't afford it on my salary and when they approached me with the money it was too good to be true but I didn't want to disappoint her." Triya responded with a sad sigh. "The man who approached me with the offer was accompanied by two Krogan, apparently his bodyguards, he was tall with short black hair, small reading glasses and brown eyes who was wearing a nice suit."

"Did he give a name?" Anola asked and Triya shook his head.

"He said that his name wasn't important but I heard one of the Krogan call him Thomas, when I checked my account earlier I saw that the money had come from a T. Hammer at Hammer and Anvil Conglomerate." Triya explained and the two officers nodded. "Please, let me keep the money, I just want my daughter to be successful in life!" Triya pleaded as the two officers stood up.

"Triya, as a father I understand your plight but as an officer of the law I can't abide by what you helped cause." Varnus responded with a sad sigh and Triya lowered his head. "I'll talk to Commander Bailey but I can't make any promises." Varnus added and Triya nodded as the officers left.

"What did he tell you?" McKenna asked as she approached the officers and Varnus turned to her.

"He basically did it for his daughter, the guy who paid him off said that no one would be hurt and, well, we know what happened there." Varnus responded and McKenna shook her head. "And that brings me to my next point, did the Iron Maiden mention a man by the name of Thomas Hammer?" Varnus asked and McKenna checked her Omni-Tool.

"She just mentioned that the payment came from Hammer and Anvil Conglomerate and that it was a front for Steele's money laundering." McKenna responded before frowning. "I could ask her but I have a feeling that I'm running out of favours if you catch my meaning."

"I'm sure she'll understand once she hears that a C-Sec officer's life was put in danger." Anola responded and McKenna sighed.

"I know that but when she e-mailed me back with the info she said "next time the info won't be free or cheap" at the end of the e-mail." McKenna responded with a frown on her face. "I make a lot of money here at C-Sec but there's no way that I can get enough money to pay her until my next payday."

"And by then it might be too late." Varnus responded as the door to the lab opened. "I guess we'll have to do things that old fashioned way, tell her that we are grateful for her service to C-Sec."

"I'll pass the message along." McKenna responded before noticing the Salarian lab tech trying to get their attention. "Looks like Fobaf wants you." McKenna added and the two officers turned around as she returned to her office.

"Sorry to interrupt detectives but I have good news." Fobaf said as the two officers turned to him. "First, we found a match for the thug who tried to kill Anola earlier."

"Already?" Anola asked and Fobaf nodded.

"I was surprised as well but as it turns out that wasn't his only encounter with C-Sec." Fobaf responded as he showed them his datapad.

"Francisco Manchini, American of Italian descent, suspected in at least five murders, known associate of Victor Steele." Anola commented as she read the data. "Where you able to tie him to the other murders he was wanted for?"

"Yes, the fingerprints matched the ones the other officers found at the scene of those crimes but they never caught him, only reason I took so long was because I took the time to call the officers who worked those cases so that I could tell them to consider the case closed." Fobaf responded with a nod before getting another data pad out. "Speaking of which, I believe your father spotted a piece of paper in Francisco's breast pocket?"

"Yeah, I initially thought it was nothing but if you're bringing it up then it must be important." Anola responded and Fobaf nodded.

"Well I analysed it, initially it looked like a shopping list with the names of a well-known butcher shop, bakery and grocery store circled." Fobaf responded before frowning. "I thought it was odd that a hitman would carry something like that around so on a hunch I got a specialist in code breaking to look into it, it wasn't a shopping list at all it was a hitlist."

"Let me guess, my name was right at the top?" Anola asked and Fobaf nodded.

"It was and it's a good thing that he is now in the coroner's office because the list included a certain Quarian you're protecting." Fobaf responded and the two officers' faces darkened.

"He was going after Reya?" Varnus asked and Fobaf nodded.

"She was next on the list after you, if your dad hadn't arrived when he did then, well, I'd rather not think of what could've happened if he had found where Reya was hiding and caught the two officers you have guarding her off guard." Fobaf responded with a frown and the two officers nodded. "And that means that either he was after the bounty."

"Or Steele decided to take matters into his own hands." Varnus responded with a frown. "We still need something concrete to tie Steele into this, the bastard can afford some of the best lawyers on the Citadel and if we go to them with a piece of paper as our only evidence we'll be laughed out of the courtroom and Bailey will have us work traffic duty for the rest of our careers."

"A warrant for his bank records would go a long way towards proving the connection but in the meantime I'll do what I can on my end." Fobaf responded with a nod before returning to the lab, Anola turned to Varnus and frowned.

"Do you want to break the news that we have another warrant request for Bailey or should I?" Anola asked not noticing that Bailey was approaching them.

"What was that about a warrant request?" Bailey asked and the two officers looked up, once Anola filled him in on what they knew Bailey nodded. "I'll contact the DA with the Warrant Request immediately, in the meantime Krek wants a chat about what he saw last night."

"Lead the way." Anola said as she stepped forward. "I'll catch up with you once I'm done with Krek Varnus." Anola added as she glanced over at her partner.

"Understood." Varnus nodded in response before Anola followed Bailey out of the hallway and into the main hallway, Krek was escorted out of his cell by armed guards and the massive Krogan scoffed.

"I could kill you all without a second thought." Krek grunted as he glared at the four C-Sec officers surrounding him.

"Yeah but then I'd have to put you through another table and I'm pretty sure that that would come out of my pay check this time." Anola responded as Krek glared at her. "Bailey said that you were willing to talk?"

"I was expecting that Turian again." Krek responded and Anola shook her head.

"I volunteered to integrate you this time." Anola responded as she followed the guards and Krek to an empty integration room, once the guards strapped Krek in they left and Anola leaned against the wall. "Okay Krek, let's try to make this quick and painless, what did you see last night?"

"Not a lot and I think you know why." Krek responded as Anola folded her arms. "Let me make one thing straight Asari, I have no illusions of getting out of the charges the DA is stacking up against me and I know that I'll likely get the Death Penalty, the only reason I'm coming to you with what I know is out of the good of my heart."

"Didn't know you had any good in you." Anola responded and the Krogan grunted. "Well let's start from the beginning."

"All right, I was in my cell trying to get some sleep but Jared Black kept complaining over the fact that the Turian cock blocked him before he made the arrest, made me chuckle the first couple of times but after the fiftieth time I wanted to head-butt his empty head into a bloody pulp." Krek responded and Anola nodded. "I called him out for not taking my advice and fleeing to Omega and instead thinking with his dick, then he made a Genophage joke and I was enraged."

"Yeah, I know exactly how much of a touchy subject the Genophage is for Krogans even after it was cured." Anola commented with a wince and the Krogan scoffed.

"What would an Asari know about the Genophage aside from what they read in history class?!" Krek demanded and Anola's eyes narrowed. "Our lifespans might be similar but that's where the similarities end, Asari could mate with a Pyjack and produce offspring whilst for the longest time us Krogans were lucky if even one child survived child birth! What the hell do you know about my species plight?!"

"_If only he knew how tempted I am to use my biotics to snap his neck in several ways."_ Anola thought angrily before shaking her head. "You want to know how I know. My dad's a Krogan." Anola responded and that seemed to give the massive Krogan pause. "I didn't know him for the longest time because I was the product of a one night stand but after we ran into each other here on the Citadel he filled me in on everything Krogan."

"Is that a fact?" Krek asked and Anola nodded. "Certainly explains a few things, can't think of many Asari who'd shoot at a rampaging Krogan."

"That was me doing my job, I would've done that even if my dad was a Volus!" Anola asserted and Krek scoffed at that idea. "Let's get back on track, what happened after Jared's poorly thought out joke?"

"Well I tried busting down my cell door but even with my strength I couldn't have gotten past it, the guard told us to shut up, I argued with him and then the power went out." Krek responded as Anola wrote down the info. "The guard went to his desk, apparently trying to figure out the problem but before he could do anything someone hit him in the jaw with the butt of an Assault Rifle, knocked him out like a light."

"_If that's true then I guess the guard's lucky that he didn't get a broken jaw on top of the concussion." _Anola thought as she wrote the info down. "Okay, I know that Cameron Jacobs was broken out of jail and Jared Black was killed but can you go into more detail?"

"Like you said, Cameron was set free and Jared was killed, three men approached the cells, one of them was holding an assault rifle but the others weren't armed as far as I could see." Krek responded and Anola nodded. "I didn't recognize them but that might have been because of the lack of power, I could make out the distinctive shapes of two Krogan and a human male but Cameron and Jared did, their reactions to the trio couldn't be more different."

"What do you mean?" Anola asked and Krek frowned.

"Cameron seemed relieved to see them, as if he knew them, he's Steele's lapdog so I wouldn't be surprised if that was where he recognized him from, Jared on the other hand was terrified and I think that it was for the same reasons as Cameron's relief." Krek explained and Anola nodded. "Once I realized that they were letting prisoners go I tried to talk them into letting me know as well but the fact that I'm still in this building should tell you how that went, first they let Cameron go and at first it looked like they'd do the same for Cameron, instead the human drew his gun and shot him right between the eyes."

"_Wait a second, two Krogans and a human? Triya said that he was approached by the same trio." _Anola thought before glancing up at Krek. "One last thing, did you hear them mention the human by name?" Anola asked and Krek thought for a moment.

"Not the Krogans but Cameron did when he was let go, he said "Thanks Tom, I guess Steele's Hammer is here to let me free" but before he could say anything else one of the Krogans punched him in the stomach to shut him up, sent him flying into my cell door and knocked him out before they carried him off." Krek explained and Anola frowned.

"_They knock Cameron out and take him with them but not before gunning Jared down in his cell, if over twenty years of Police Force experience has taught me anything it's that this won't end well for Cameron." _Anola thought as she kicked off the wall. "That's everything Krek, enjoy your new cell." Anola added before leaving the interrogation room and seeing Varnus standing outside. "Where's Bailey?"

"Off to try to talk the DA into getting ourselves another warrant for Francisco's Bank Account details." Varnus responded with a nod. "What did Krek say?"

"There's a strong possibility that the same trio that approached Triya with the offer was the one that broke into C-Sec." Anola responded with a frown. "And if this is true then it means that Thomas Hammer is Jared's murderer."

"Which would be great if we knew where to find him." Varnus responded with a nod. "What about Cameron?"

"I don't think they broke him out for him to continue his previous work under Steele." Anola responded as she shook her head. "One of the two Krogan knocked him out before carrying him off, do I even need to elaborate any further?"

"No, you don't and we still don't know how this ties into Reya's situation or Andrea being on the Citadel even though Reya was next on Francisco's hitlist." Varnus responded as he started walking alongside Anola. "I guess we'd better wait until something comes along."

"You know me Varnus, I hate the waiting part." Anola sighed as she followed Varnus. "At least I'll be able to finally fill out the paperwork that's been piling up on my desk since the whole situation started."

"Then you'd better get started, last I checked the pile was the size of the Citadel Tower." Varnus responded with a chuckle and Anola shook her head as the two officers walked off.

*later on another part of the Wards*

Despite everything that happened the night before and that very morning the Wards were back to normal for the most part, shops where either opening up or closing for the night and in the case of the numerous bars and nightclubs they were opening up and getting ready for the nightlife like Steele's Bar and Grille.

The bar itself wouldn't be open for another hour but that didn't stop the people who worked at the bar from getting everything set up, the bartenders were making sure that they had enough drinks for tonight's rush, the kitchen was wrapping up its prep and the dancers/strippers where getting ready to strut their stuff, all overseen by one man.

"What do you mean you're out of T-Bone Steaks?" The man who ran the bar asked over the phone to the head chef, the owner never left his office during the night time rush meaning that the only people who saw him face to face would be either his "personal employees" or any mercs who came up to his office to enquire about a bounty and at the moment he was facing the wall where he was making a video call. "Have you checked the Walk-In Freezer? Those things are our special tonight and they are expected to sell like hot cakes! If the prep cooks wasted the product whilst prepping them then they are to be fired at the end of service but you have an hour left to get everything prepped so in the mean time you have to check the walk in!"

"Right away boss." The Asari head chef responded with a nod before hanging up, Victor put the phone down and sighed to himself.

"I've been running this joint for two long years and I still can't get competent prep cooks." Victor muttered under his breath as the door to his office opened. "Is that you Hammer?"

"Where you expecting the Tooth Fairy?" Thomas Hammer asked as he entered the office and Victor chuckled whilst still facing the wall. "I apologize for the delay but I come bearing gifts." Thomas added before his two Krogan bodyguards walked in carrying a bruised and bloody Cameron Jacobs who they threw to the floor the moment they entered the office.

"If that little idiot is here and not at C-Sec then I can assume that the reports of Jared's demise were not exaggerated?" Victor asked as he glanced over at Cameron who was struggling to get to his feet.

"I saw to it myself, he won't be a problem any longer." Thomas responded with a nod and Victor nodded.

"Excellent work, now for you Cameron." Victor said as he finally turned around, he was a tall man in his late thirties with black slicked hair and cold, blue eyes, he was wearing a suit that was obviously expensive and possibly custom made that was navy blue in colour. "Cameron, when I first met you, well, you were the most pathetic petty thief that I have ever met."

"So what if I made some mistakes?" Cameron grunted as he struggled to get to his feet. "I still served you faithfully and your thugs broke me out of C-Sec before they could interrogate me!"

"Is this true?" Victor asked Thomas who promptly nodded.

"I checked the records myself, the arresting officers had to stop by Huerta Memorial before they could even talk to him." Thomas responded with a nod as he folded his arms. "But it doesn't excuse his foolish actions that led to his arrest."

"Is…..is about Thrax?" Cameron stammered as he sat up. "I told the old man that I was only allowed to conduct business in here but he wouldn't listen!"

"That's not what the Asari who served you told me, he said that he'd cut you in on the Reya bounty and you let your greed cloud your judgment!" Victor responded as he stood up and walked up to him. "C-Sec used the oldest trick in the book to arrest you and you fell for it, hook, line and sinker!"

"I don't understand?" Cameron asked clearly getting nervous.

"Do I have to spell everything out for you?" Victor asked before shaking his head. "I cured you of your red sand addiction in return for your faithful service as long as you didn't do anything stupid but by agreeing to meet Thrax in that alley you opened yourself up to being arrested by C-Sec, I guess it just goes to show you, you can take the addiction away from the addict but it doesn't make them any smarter!"

"What are you going to do to me?!" Cameron asked clearly terrified and Victor's mouth crept into a sadistic smirk.

"I'll let my boys give you all the red sand you could ever want." Victor said as he took a puff of the cigarette he was smoking and blew it in Cameron's face. "All at once."


	6. The Evil that Men Do

It was now night-time on the Wards and in most places the party was in full swing with most citizens on the Citadel hanging out in clubs or bars, for the rest of the citizens on the Citadel Wards however they were spending their night either at home or at work.

"One piece of paperwork down." Anola muttered to herself as she filed away the datapad, when she turned around she looked at the remaining datapads and sighed to herself. "Only a few more left to go, thank goddess for that!"

"Sounds like you need a drink Anola." Varnus commented as he approached her desk with two cups of coffee in his hand, Anola grinned when she saw the cups and took it when he handed her one of the cups. "It's been a long day for both of us so I figured you could use it."

"You're a lifesaver Varnus and I'm not just talking about you coming to my aid this morning." Anola responded as she took a sip of her coffee. "There are several things that I'm grateful towards humans for and introducing coffee to the galaxy is definitely one of them."

"As opposed to pizza which if anyone asked you is the spawn of Satan himself." Varnus chuckled and Anola laughed at that. "We still haven't had a sighting of Cameron since he was broken out last night, either he got on the first ship to the Terminus Systems with a one way ticket or our earlier suspicions are true."

"I've called my contacts in between filling in the paperwork to see if they've seen him, no luck unfortunately." Anola responded as she shook her head. "The only one I haven't been able to contact is Jessica Troy."

"She's the petty thief right?" Varnus asked and Anola nodded.

"Well she won't be a petty thief for much longer, the job I got her at the restaurant has done wonders for her and it's really unlikely that she'll go back to her old ways." Anola responded and Varnus smiled at that. "She needed it considering that she never really had a chance to have a normal childhood and all."

"I remember you telling me about when you arrested her." Varnus commented with a chuckle. "Pickpocketing a Krogan who subsequently pulled a gun on her after you made the arrest wasn't it? I do believe she yelled out about a dozen swear words when she saw the Krogan."

"Yeah, luckily my dad was in the area and talked down the Krogan." Anola responded as she shook her head. "I'm still not sure what surprised me more, the fact that the Krogan incident didn't scare her straight or the fact that she said that she had been robbing people since the age of twelve and honestly she was lucky that I was there to reach out to her."

"Not a lot of young thieves are that lucky unfortunately." Varnus responded as he shook his head sadly before glancing at the paperwork. "Looks like you've gone through them quickly."

"I don't exactly have my hopes up, I'm expecting some bureaucrat to come by and have my start over because I filled it in incorrectly." Anola responded as she shook her head. "This job tends to turn good, honest people into cynical bastards, doesn't it?"

"Just look at Bailey." Varnus responded with a chuckle and Anola laughed, after a few minutes they finished their coffees just in time for Anola's Omni-Tool to go off with her ringtone. "Wonder what that is about?"

"Hopefully it's Bailey to tell us that we finally have our warrants." Anola responded as she turned on her Omni-Tool, however she frowned when she saw who the call was from. "It's from Jessica?"

"Maybe she got your missed message?" Varnus asked as Anola answered the call and a young human woman with dark brown hair and green eyes appeared on the screen, but what caught their attention was the look of panic on her face.

"Jessica, is something wrong?" Anola asked and Jessica took a deep breath.

"My shift just ended and I was on my way home when….." Jessica trailed off as she took a deep breath. "I didn't do it, okay? It was like this when I got here!"

"Jessica, calm down, what didn't you do?" Anola asked as the teen looked around frantically.

"I….I guess I can't really describe it, here, let me show you." Jessica responded before turning her Omni-Tool around, what Anola saw caught her attention immediately.

"_Oh goddess, that's Cameron's body." _Anola thought with a wince. "Jessica, why didn't you call dispatch? I told you to call in case of emergency."

"I know but I was worried that they'd think I was a suspect because of my criminal past." Jessica responded as she turned the Omni-Tool back around. "Can you and Varnus get here ASAP? I'm not far from the restaurant you got me a job at, in fact I'm taking the shortcut through the back alley of the restaurant."

"We'll be there as soon as we can but keep in mind that we'll have to treat you as a suspect Jessica." Anola responded and Jessica took a deep breath before nodding. "Stay where you are, we won't be long."

"Please hurry!" Jessica responded before hanging up and Anola stood up.

"Well, that sorts out what happened to Cameron." Varnus responded as he shook his head. "Poor kid, didn't you say that she doesn't have a history of violence?"

"She had never even seen a dead body outside of movies and TV shows, I can't even imagine how traumatizing this is for her." Anola responded as she shook her head. "It almost pains me to treat her as a suspect but she was the first person on the scene."

"Most we can do is make sure that her adopted family is there for her, for now we had better get down there." Varnus responded as he turned around. "I'm off to inform CSU and the coroner, meet you in the parking lot?"

"Will do." Anola responded with a nod before turning around and making her way towards the front door.

*meanwhile*

"_Okay, I finally have an outfit picked out!" _Andrea thought as she admired herself in the mirror, she had swapped out the jeans she had worn the night before for jean shorts and whilst her top still exposed her midriff she had swapped it out for a black tanktop and was in the middle of tying her hair up in a ponytail. _"Now I just have to get to this damn bar."_

"Is it safe to open up the video chat again?" Sardir's voice rang out and Andrea glanced over to the laptop.

"Yeah, it's safe, I literally just got dressed." Andrea responded as she finished tying her hair up and sat down on the bed, the video chat popped up and Sardir's face appeared on the screen. "Couldn't this have waited until after I had left the apartment? I have my earpiece for a reason you know!"

"No, it couldn't and for a good reason." Sardir responded as he typed away at his keyboard. "Whilst you were looking through the crate yesterday did you find a visor?"

"The red one right?" Andrea asked and Sardir nodded. "Yeah but I didn't see much point in it, I can shoot just fine without the aid of a visor."

"Yeah, I know and that's why that visor isn't designed to aid in your shooting ability." Sardir responded as Andrea reached over to the other coffee table and grabbed the visor, it was a small one and whilst the main body of the visor was red the same couldn't be said for the glass of the visor which was clear. "Put it on, trust me."

"Sardir, the last time someone told me to do that Alicia wasn't able to walk straight for a week because I put the strap on in the wrong hole." Andrea reminded him and Sardir coughed nervously in response.

"I'm not even commenting on that because Alicia is literally right behind me." Sardir responded as Alicia leaned to the side and waved to the camera whilst clearly trying not to laugh at Andrea's remark. "When have I ever done you wrong?"

"Alicia, you have that list, right?" Andrea responded and Alicia laughed.

"You mean the list that spans a hundred pages?" Alicia responded and Sardir shook his head.

"Ha-ha, very funny, do us all a favour and don't apply for Citadel's Got Talent with your stand-up routine!" Sardir muttered under his breath and Andrea laughed in response. "Just put the damn visor on! I could get your girlfriend to vouch for it if it makes you feel any better."

"I told you before, we're not a lesbian couple we're friends with benefits!" Andrea insisted and Sardir scoffed.

"Right, because friends with benefits book weekends away to Ilium's most erotic hotel for just the two of them." Sardir responded and Andrea sighed in annoyance.

"Fine." Andrea responded before clipping the visor onto her right ear and putting the screen in front of her eye. "Still don't see the point."

"Yeah, for this part you're going to have to close the video chat." Alicia responded and Andrea closed the video chat on her laptop, five seconds passed and the video chat popped up again this time on her visor. "Great, now we can see everything you can see."

"Is this some elaborate plot to catch me checking out other women and men?" Andrea asked with a deadpan expression on her face and Alicia laughed.

"Andy, not counting the three-way we had with Nicholai how many times have we had sex with other people?" Alicia asked and Sardir scoffed.

"Do you honestly expect her to write a list longer than War &amp; Peace?" Sardir asked with a laugh and the two women rolled their eyes. "Let's take it for a test run, show us around your apartment and let's see if it's as shitty as you said it was."

"Okay but it'll be a short tour." Andrea responded before standing up and walking around her apartment. "Here's my bed, there's my closet, there's the porn stash that Alicia was considerate enough to include with my equipment."

"You're welcome by the way." Alicia responded with a grin. "What about the weapons we had Shonfor smuggle in? Can you show us that?"

"Okay but I do want to get to Steele's Bar and Grill before the nightlife is over." Andrea responded before walking over to the closet, on the right-side wall there was a hand scanner which she placed her hand over and once her hand was scanned the wall peeled back to reveal a secret compartment full of assorted guns. "How did you manage to install this without anyone noticing anyway?"

"Oh you know, I paid off a contractor, threatened to send the Krogans in to deal with any complaining neighbours, the usual." Sardir responded as Andrea scanned her hand again to close the compartment and left her closet. "And now you've come out of the closet!"

"You just wanted to an excuse to make that joke, didn't you?" Andrea sighed in annoyance and Sardir laughed before nodding. "Well your eight years too late for that anyway."

"I know but the joke was open wider than an Asari Hooker's legs." Sardir responded and Andrea shook her head. "Just one last thing, I noticed that you have your hair in a ponytail?"

"Well yeah, I thought it would look good in a bar." Andrea responded as she sat back down. "Let me guess, you want me to lose the ponytail so that the main body of the visor is covered?"

"Let me put it this way, a young woman walking around the Citadel Wards with that thing on the side of her head is bound to attract attention and you can only claim that it's a fancy hearing aid for so long before someone who actually uses a hearing aid calls bullshit on it." Sardir responded and Andrea sighed before removing her hair out of the ponytail and brushing it so that it covered the main body of the visor. "Besides, you….."

"Look a lot better with my hair out of the fucking ponytail, I know!" Andrea interrupted him as she put the hairband on the bedside table. "So, was the apartment as bad as I described it?"

"Honestly, it looked worse than you described it, guess that's what I get for looking for the cheapest apartment on the Wards." Sardir admitted and Andrea laughed. "Okay, I'm satisfied and the visor works, you're all set."

"Not quite." Andrea responded before returning to the closet and scanning her hand. "This place may be a cheap Afterlife knockoff but if the clientele's anything like Afterlife's then I'm bringing one of my guns for protection."

"You realize that that makes the visor look inconspicuous when your hair isn't covering it right?" Sardir responded as Andrea grabbed one of her handguns and a belt holster and put it on before holstering the gun. "Besides, the rapists you beat up have been booked in for their numerous crimes and they've probably given a description of you to C-Sec."

"Except their attacker had elbow length hair whilst mine goes just below my shoulders." Andrea pointed out and Alicia shook her head.

"Yeah but there's one thing I forgot to take into account." Alicia responded as she stepped forward. "One word, two letters, Edinburgh PD."

"Shit!" Andrea cussed once it hit her. "And there's not much of a difference appearance wise to when I was seventeen aside from my breast implants and the fact that I put on a few pounds."

"I stopped paying attention when you said breast implants." Sardir admitted and Andrea rolled her eyes. "No, I'm serious, you are a mercenary who works on Omega and when I first met you, you were struggling to put money on the table, where did you find someone skilled enough to give you implants that not only look that natural but without killing you on this dump?"

"You never told him did you Alicia?" Andrea asked and Alicia shook her head. "When I first moved to Omega I did things that I'm not proud off, I was a stripper at Afterlife for two years."

"Note to self, build time machine so that I can meet Andrea when she was a stripper at Afterlife." Sardir muttered under his breath and Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Little hint genius, muttering under your breath whilst you have a headset on is about as redundant as you can get." Andrea pointed out and Sardir laughed nervously. "To make a long story short, by the time I had reached Omega I was eighteen and they let me in the club, I got the offer and started dancing, and then came the private shows."

"Why do I get the feeling that the private shows involved a lot more than just dancing?" Sardir asked and Alicia chimed in.

"Because you've been living here almost as long as we have." Alicia responded as she shook her head. "You ever see those private rooms in Afterlife? The kind that you have to pay a few thousand credits just to get a peek in?"

"Kinda hard to miss them." Sardir responded as he typed away. "What's your point?"

"My point is that I met Andrea when we were stripping at Afterlife and those private rooms where were they offered the most money." Alicia responded as she folded her arms. "Back when I first met her it was her first time in the private rooms and the rich bastard I was stripping in front of had paid for a double lapdance and she was the only other stripper available, then the same bastard paid for us both to give him a private show."

"On the stage? I can't even imagine how unsanitary that was." Sardir responded and Andrea shook her head.

"Afterlife may be a place for the scummiest people in the galaxy but even Aria has standards, behind a curtain in each private room is a king sized bed, you get no prizes for guessing what goes in that section of the room." Andrea said as she shook her head. "Back then my tits were tiny, I was basically flat chested and Alicia said I'd get more credits if I got implants, when I told her that I barely had enough money to put food on the table let alone get implants she helped me pay for a plastic surgeon on Ilium to, well, make my tits huge, we've been friends ever since."

"And I'm guessing that includes the "with benefits" part?" Sardir asked and Alicia nodded. "So how did you go from strippers to badass egomaniac mercs? I wouldn't think that Aria would take your resignations well."

"Actually it happens more often than you think, most of the girls working in Afterlife have bigger dreams but work there to get their feet off the ground and we were no exception." Andrea responded as she shook her head. "Every night we talked about leaving Afterlife behind and becoming the badass mercs we are today, only problem was that we couldn't fight so we had to learn that first, once we got out we formed a plan to have our own badass crew and well, here we are."

"Yeah that coming of age story is touching and all but if my math is correct it should be eight in the evening over on the Citadel." Sardir responded and Andrea checked the time on her Omni-Tool. "And what do you know? I'm right again! But this does mean that you need to hurry if you want to get to Steele's before it closes."

"Thanks for the heads up." Andrea responded as she stood up. "One more thing Sardir, if you tell anyone else in the crew what we just told you I'll kill you as soon as I return to Omega."

"You can't be serious." Sardir said with a nervous laugh but stopped when Alicia slammed her fist on the desk.

"She is and I'm just as serious." Alicia responded as her eyes narrowed. "Ever since we formed this crew we decided on one thing, the other members wouldn't find out from second hand sources, they would come straight from the horse's mouth so to speak."

"Okay, I hear you." Sardir responded with a gulp. "So just so I know who I can and can't talk about this with, who else knows?"

"Nicholai found out on the day we met him, Crarnus knows and so do the Krogan, everyone else if off limits." Andrea responded as she walked out of the apartment. "I'll call you back when I reach the bar, in the meantime try to stay out of trouble."

"Andrea, it's Omega, it's practically impossible to stay out of trouble here." Sardir responded but Andrea hung up before she could respond and he turned to Alicia. "So did Nicholai find out before or after the three-way?"

"Before, but that's another story for another time." Alicia said before walking off. "Oh and Sardir? When she says "stay out of trouble" she really means "try not to let your mouth get you killed", is that clear enough for you?"

"Crystal." Sardir responded with a nod as Alicia left. _"Note to self, fast track research on time machine so I can have sex with Andrea and Alicia when they were strippers, infections by damned!"_

*later on*

The squad car that contained Anola and Varnus pulled up outside the restaurant were Jessica worked and Anola spotted her waiting outside the alley, her dark brown hair was shoulder length and she was wearing a waitresses' uniform that indicated what position she held at the restaurant, the two officers got out and approached Jessica.

"Jessica, where's the body?" Anola asked and Jessica motioned the two officers to follow her deeper into the alley. "You seemed pretty scared when you called me, are you feeling any better?"

"I just saw a real dead body in person for the first and hopefully only time, what do you think?" Jessica asked as she glanced over at the officers before sighing and shaking her head. "I don't know how you guys deal with it on a day to day basis, I don't even know the guy but I recognized him as one of the crooks that was all over the news earlier and yet seeing his body shook me to the core, you know?"

"It doesn't get any easier, I'll tell you that much Jessica." Varnus responded and Jessica nodded sadly. "Have you called your adopted family? I think they would be more than a little inclined to help you through this."

"I'll call them after I take you to the body, I didn't want my mom to worry about me." Jessica responded with a sigh as they rounded a corner. "The body is just down that alley over there." Jessica added as she pointed out the alleyway "But if it's okay I'll keep my distance, I'd rather not spend another second near that body."

"Its fine Jessica, you've had enough trauma for one night." Anola nodded in understanding before turning to Varnus. "You mind handling the interview whilst I call CSU over?"

"Not at all." Varnus nodded before Anola walked off whilst making the call, the Turian turned to Jessica and got his Datapad out. "Okay Jessica, I know this has been a tough few minutes for you but can you tell me what happened?"

"It's exactly like I said over the phone to Anola, my shift had just ended but my dad couldn't pick me up because his car was in the shop and since I didn't make enough in tips to afford a cab I volunteered to walk home." Jessica responded as she leaned against the wall. "I decided to take the shortcut through the alley behind the restaurant since it takes me to a block that's just a few blocks away from my house, I'm really beginning to wish that I had taken the long route."

"That was when you discovered the body?" Varnus asked and Jessica hesitated before nodding.

"I was talking on my phone to a friend at the time but when I saw the body I told her that I'd call her back." Jessica responded with a sigh. "At first I thought he had passed out from drinking too much but when I realized that he wasn't breathing….well I panicked, my first thought was to call dispatch like Anola said but I was worried that the cop they'd send treat me as a suspect so I called Anola."

"Jessica, I don't mean to sound insensitive but you've been in and out of juvenile hall since you were twelve correct?" Varnus asked and Jessica nodded reluctantly. "You had to have known that you'd be treated as a suspect regardless of who showed up."

"All my previous arrests were for pickpocketing and hacking and since there always happened to be a C-Sec officer at the scene whenever I was breaking the law there wasn't really any doubt that I was behind it, you know?" Jessica asked and Varnus nodded. "Besides, none of my pickpocketing victims ended up dead and no one's died thanks to a hacked terminal last I checked."

"You are correct, I am just making sure that my basis are covered." Varnus nodded in response as Jessica folded her arms. "Did you see anyone else in the area?"

"The alleyway leads out into the Main Street, what do you think?" Jessica asked and Varnus shook his head.

"Let me rephrase, did you see anyone suspicious nearby?" Varnus asked and Jessica thought for a moment.

"No, not really, the street was fairly barren which I chalked up to all those clubs and bars that I can't go to for another three years." Jessica responded and Varnus nodded. "I didn't know the guy but I recognized him from TV, I think you can guess how I recognized him."

"Ah yes, the news reports." Varnus commented with a grunt and Jessica looked at the Turian in confusion. "This situation is bad enough for C-Sec but some jackass decided to have the news reports on all day, and all the news reports are reporting on the same thing, the break in, do I even need to say how annoying that has gotten?"

"No you don't." Jessica said with a wince as Anola approached them.

"What did you find?" Varnus asked once he saw Anola.

"I noticed a cell phone near his body and at a first glance I'd say he died from a Red Sand overdose." Anola responded as she folded her arms. "Normally I'd chalk that up to an addict getting too greedy but considering that Cameron was probably clean for months and the fact that he was busted out of lockup this morning?"

"You're right, there's too many coincidences for this not to be suspicious and as C-Sec Officers we're not allowed to believe in coincidences." Varnus agreed with a nod before motioning to Jessica. "She told me everything she knew, from the look of things it seems like she was in the wrong place at the right time, CSU should be here soon."

"Good." Anola nodded before turning to Jessica and sighing. "Jess, are you going to be okay?"

"I probably won't get any sleep tonight but otherwise? I'm fine." Jessica responded with a frown. "Can I go home now? I just want to pretend that this never happened."

"We just need a DNA Sample and you'll be free to go, just wait for CSU to show up and I'll make sure that someone takes a sample from you." Anola responded and Jessica nodded, Varnus motioned her over and Anola walked up to him. "Steele seems to be cleaning house."

"Yes and if he is behind Reya's bounty we need to let the teams keeping an eye on her know ASAP." Varnus nodded in agreement before sighing. "But bounties aren't Steele's style, if he wants you dead he'll send a thug after you and leave it at that, what makes an eighteen year old Quarian so special to him?"

"I don't know but for Reya's sake we'd better find out and fast." Anola responded and Varnus nodded in agreement before the two officers walked to the outside of the alley so that they could lead CSU to the scene.

*meanwhile on Omega*

It was now late at night on Omega and most of its residents were asleep or still at bars like Afterlife but for Andrea's crew they had been back at their HQ for a couple of hours now and for the most part the crew was either asleep or working.

"_God I needed that shower." _Alicia thought as she stepped out of the shower room with a towel wrapped her naked body, not many places on Omega had running water and as a result the crew had to chip in and buy a water tank along with the showers so that they would work and whilst it did require semi-regular trips to Ilium to stock up on water it did the job. _"Still at least now I can get some sleep….." _Alicia trailed off before realizing someone else was in the room.

His back was turned to hers but across the room from her was a huge, topless mountain of a man with shoulder length blonde hair, if you were to describe him in one word it would be ripped and he had a large tattoo of the Grim Reaper down his back, any woman who didn't know any better would fawn over the hunk in front of them.

Off course, Alicia knew better.

"If I didn't know any better Nicholai I'd say that this was a scene right out of an extranet porno vid." Alicia commented with a playful grin on her face and the massive man glanced over his shoulder revealing a full beard and green eyes. "Leave something in here?"

"My shirt." The massive Russian said as he turned around completely, Alicia was tall for a woman standing around five foot nine but Nicholai still towered over her. "In all the….excitement with the Asari earlier I didn't realize that I had forgotten my shirt until I returned from Afterlife."

"I was wondering why you were topless the whole time we were in Afterlife or where that massive shirt came from." Alicia commented with a chuckle as she looked him over. "I don't think the women in Afterlife complained about the view on the other hand, I'm definitely not." Alicia added as her grin grew wider. "If I weren't so tired I'd probably invite you into bed." Alicia added with a playful wink.

"Well maybe you'll get a chance another night." He responded with a grin. "Maybe Andrea can join us when she returns from the Citadel."

"You just gave me another reason to look forward to her return." Alicia responded as her grin grew wider and she sat on the bed, before either mercenary could say anything else the door opened and Sardir entered the room.

"Hey I thought I'd let you know that Andrea's reached the bar and….." Sardir trailed off before getting a good look at the scene in front of him. "Haven't you two had enough sex for one night?"

"There's such a thing as "too much sex"?" Alicia asked with a grin before shaking her head. "It's not what it looks like, I literally just got out the shower and Nicholai forgot his shirt after unleashing the reaper on those Asari."

"That's got to be the strangest sex analogy I have ever heard and I've heard them all, mostly from you and Andrea." Sardir responded as he shook his head. "As I was saying, Andrea's reached the bar if you want to watch her work."

"I would but I'm really tired and I need to get some sleep, fill me in in the morning." Alicia responded and Sardir went to say something. "Yes, I realize how sexual that last part sounded, shut up."

"Coming from someone who gets around as much as you do that's saying something." Sardir commented and Alicia rolled her eyes. "So big man, want to watch Andrea work?"

"I will, just as soon as I put my top on." Nicholai said before putting the shirt on much to Alicia's annoyance. "Ready when you are."

"Good, Alicia we'll let you know what happened tomorrow morning." Sardir added and Alicia nodded before Sardir left the room, Alicia started to take off her towel whilst the door was still open and Sardir leaned in hoping to see her naked, all he got instead was a biotically thrown pillow to the face. "Going, going!" Sardir said before hurrying off and the door closed behind him.

"_Sometimes I wonder if Sardir's tech skills are worth it." _Alicia thought with a frown as she disrobed and put on a night gown. _"Still the visor Andrea's using was his invention so it's not all bad." _Alicia thought as she lay down on the bed.

*back on the Citadel*

Like most places on the Citadel at this time of night Steele's Bar and Grill on the Wards had a fairly long line of patrons wanting to enter the establishment and have a good time, off course nearly every person in line was a criminal of some description and Andrea was no different.

"You guys in position?" Andrea asked as she waited for the line to move, she was at the back of the line which meant that no one could see her talking into the microphone provided by the visor and anyone who did assumed that she was talking to her associates, off course they were only half right since Andrea's associates were back on Omega.

"Sorry about that Andrea." Sardir apologized as he and Nicholai stepped in front of the visor. "Wanted to get Alicia to watch too but she's asleep so I went for the next best thing." Sardir added as he motioned to Nicholai. "And no, she's not asleep because she slept with him."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Andrea asked with a small grin on her face. "Anyway I literally just reached the bar and I'm currently waiting to be let in, line's not nearly as long as the ones we see outside Afterlife but it's still pretty long."

"So we'd better get comfy in other words." Sardir responded with a grunt. "How far are you from the front?"

"Like I said, line's pretty long but it shouldn't take me more than a couple of minutes to get to the front." Andrea responded as she leaned to the side to give them a better look at the line length. "I briefly considered flashing my tits at the guys in front of me to see if that got them to move but I heard the Turian in front of me mention his boyfriend and most of the line is made up of aliens who didn't even check out my ass when I walked past them." Andrea whispered hoping not to piss off the wrong person.

"Right, either they are gay or they don't venture outside of their own species." Nicholai nodded in response and Andrea frowned. "What do we know about Victor Steele anyway?"

"Sardir, can you fill him in on everything you know about Steele? I don't feel like repeating myself and it'll be my turn soon anyway." Andrea said as she moved forward with the rest of the line.

"Sure." Sardir said before taking off the headset to inform Nicholai about what they had found out, whilst that went on the Turian in front of Andrea was let in and Andrea stepped in front of the human bouncer.

"Finally, someone that's easy on the eyes!" The bouncer commented as he looked over Andrea and she rolled her eyes. "Is your name on the guest list or are you here on business?"

"Business." Andrea responded and the bouncer nodded before motioning for her to elaborate. "I came all the way from Omega because of a bounty I chased here, I was hoping that the guy who runs this place might have some info about it."

"Well you've come to the right place then." The bouncer said with a raised eyebrow. "This must be a huge bounty if it's attracting mercenaries from as far away as Omega."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Andrea responded with a grin and the bouncer nodded before letting her in, as Andrea walked past him the bouncer slapped her on the ass and Andrea gave him a nasty glare. _"He is so lucky that getting kicked out would be detrimental to the mission." _Andrea thought with an annoyed sigh before walking into the bar.

"When you said that this place was a cheap Afterlife knock off you weren't kidding." Sardir commented and Andrea looked around the bar. "All Aria needs to do is install a kitchen in Afterlife and this place will lose its niche market in the underworld."

"Installing a kitchen is one thing, finding someone on Omega who's a trained chef is another." Nicholai pointed out and Sardir nodded.

"Good point, I like to think that I'm a decent cook but that's beside the point." Sardir admitted before they turned their attention to the screen. "So Andrea, what's the plan?"

"You mean besides kicking that bouncer's ass the next time I see him?" Andrea whispered before sitting down at the bar. "Getting info off course." Andrea added as a male bartender approached her. "Hi, can I get a soda?"

"You come to a place like this for a soda?" The bartender asked and Andrea shook her head.

"I'm here on business and I can't exactly conduct business whilst I'm drunk." Andrea responded and the bartender nodded before pouring her drink. "And whilst we're on the subject, who do I speak too regarding bounties around here?"

"The boss himself, Victor Steele." The bartender said as he motioned towards the office overlooking the bar with his head. "I'll make a call to him once you've paid for your drink but it might take a while, they are a bit short on mercenary contacts at the moment, in the meantime do you want to have a look at the menu?"

"Sure, why not?" Andrea shrugged her shoulders before giving the bartender a credit chit in exchange for the drink, he hander her the soda alongside a menu before leaving to make the call. "Burgers, steak, lamb, I guess we can count bar food among the things that haven't really changed since humanity discovered alien life."

"Why change what works?" Nicholai responded before Sardir made a sound that seemed like he was unhappy. "Something wrong?"

"I can't see any dextro items on the menu." Sardir commented as he shook his head. "Seriously, Turians make up a large chunk of the Citadel population and they don't include food that's safe for them to eat? Does Victor Steele want to lose money?"

"Doubt it, they probably have a separate menu with dextro versions of the dishes." Andrea responded as she read the menu. "Screw it, I haven't eaten that much since I arrived here, think I'll get myself a burger."

"The burgers here are very good young lady." Andrea turned around and saw Thomas standing behind her flanked by his bodyguards, he offered her a handshake and Andrea eyed the guards cautiously. "Thomas Hammer, I was told that you were interested in a bounty?"

"A guy called Hammer working in a place called Steele's Bar and Grill, you must get sick of the jokes." Andrea chuckled before getting off her seat and accepting the handshake. "Andrea McKenzie, I hope you'll be able to help me since I've come all the way from Omega for this bounty."

"Yes, I do get sick of the constant jokes, fortunately I don't officially work here, I'm just here as a favour to Mr. Steele." Thomas responded as he shook his head. "And since you've come all this way why don't we try to get things done quickly?" Thomas added as he motioned towards the office. "Company policy, any "business transactions" take place in the office."

"Works for me." Andrea nodded in response before following Thomas and his guards as they lead her to Victor's office. "Guy flanked by two Krogans working here as a favour to the owner?"

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking then yeah, this guy's probably tied to Victor's mob activities." Sardir responded with a nod as Andrea followed them. "Might want to watch what you say in there, last thing we want is a mob boss who's pissed off at you complicating things."

"Take it from someone with experience, pissing off the mob is never a good thing." Nicholai nodded in agreement with a frown on his face. "Like Sardir said, watch your step once you're in that office Andrea."

"Speaking to someone?" Thomas asked as he glanced over at Andrea.

"Yeah I have a crew back on Omega, I'm cutting them in on the bounty and they gave me a communicator so I can update them." Andrea responded as she showed him the main body of the visor and Thomas nodded.

"Smart plan, that device you're using does look sophisticated I must say." Thomas commented with a curious look on his face. "Do you design it?"

"I'm good at tech but not that good, you can thank the Quarian hacker in my crew for this." Andrea responded as she shook her head and Thomas nodded.

"If you want a tech genius Quarians are usually your best bed." Thomas nodded in agreement and Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Great, now you've gone and stroked his already inflated ego." Andrea responded and Thomas laughed at her comment.

"What's that human expression again? Oh yeah, pot calling the kettle black." Sardir responded and Andrea shook her head before entering the office.

"Another day, another bounty hunter, at least this one's a chick." Victor said as he looked up and saw Andrea enter the room. "Though you don't exactly look like a bounty hunter, more like one of my waitresses."

"Well I would've come to the bar in armour but that would've attracted unwanted attention from C-Sec." Andrea pointed out as she looked around the office. "And I'm guessing that's one thing you don't want Mr….."

"Touché and my apologies, I've had a rough day Ms. McKenzie." Victor apologized as he put his hands up. "Victor Steele, I run this joint and most of the organized crime here on the Wards." Victor introduced himself as he offered her a handshake which she accepted. "Not every day that I get clientele who came all the way from Omega."

"Well it's not every day that mercenaries on Omega hear about bounties that offer a million credits for the death of a Quarian." Andrea responded and Victor frowned when he heard that.

"Again, good point." Victor admitted as he leaned back. "So what do you know about the Quarian your hunting down?"

"Not a lot aside from the basics." Andrea admitted as she shifted her weight. "I know that this Quarian was recently put in protective custody by C-Sec and when I heard about you I figured I'd come here and see if you knew anything about it." Andrea added and Victor nodded.

"Doesn't matter if they come from Omega or Ilium, I live to serve the criminal element of the galaxy." Victor responded with a shrug. "What's the name of this Quarian anyway?"

"Reya'Dora nar Wera." Andrea responded and within a few seconds the mood in the room darkened and Andrea quickly caught onto it. _"I just stepped on the wrong toes, didn't I?"_

"I had a feeling that it had something to do with that Quarian." Victor grunted before turning to Andrea. "I have to apologize Andrea, you've come all this way for nothing as my men are handling Reya."

"Just like that?" Andrea asked with a raised eyebrow. "I came halfway across the galaxy, risked suspicion from C-Sec and that's all you can tell me?"

"I appreciate the risks that you took to come here Andrea." Victor added as he leaned forward. "But at the same time I must strongly advise that you get the hell out of my bar before you anger me further."

"Andrea, leave, now." Nicholai told her and Andrea nodded. "I think we'd better make an emergency trip to the Citadel tomorrow."

"Let's worry about that tomorrow." Sardir responded before turning to the screen. "Andrea, I know you're hungry but I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that you are getting dangerously close to signing your death warrant."

"Well, sorry I wasted my time and yours." Andrea said as she turned around and left the office in a hurry. "Well, that went south quickly."

"No kidding, I'm beginning to think that Victor is behind the bounty." Sardir nodded in agreement as Andrea left the bar as quickly as she could. "Get back to the apartment, we'll discuss a plan of action there."

"On my way." Andrea responded before hailing down a cab, whilst that was going on Victor leaned back in his chair.

"I should've known that someone was going to ask about that bounty again." Victor commented with a frown as Thomas turned to him. "That woman needs to be eliminated before word spreads."

"She mentioned having a crew back on Omega, if she is a skilled enough mercenary to assemble a crew on a place like Omega then we had better act fast." Thomas responded and Victor nodded.

"Find out were that bitch is hiding out and send some of our best men." Victor said and Thomas nodded. "Make sure that they know that she is not to be raped, I'd like to think that my men are better than those animals behind the recent gang rapes but the last time I sent them against an attractive woman proved otherwise."

"Certainly." Thomas nodded in agreement before making the call.

"_I may be behind the bounty but I am in the middle of cleaning house following Cameron's arrest, I can't risk some mercenary getting to Reya before my men do."_ Victor thought as he shook his head. _"It's a shame, she seems like a smart, powerful woman who would be a great addition to my ranks but sacrifices must be made."_


	7. Enemy of my Enemy

It was the middle of the night in Andrea's apartment on the Wards and she was in her bed with the bedsheet covering her entire body apparently fast asleep, what she didn't realize however was that someone was breaking in.

"_Get in, shoot the bitch full of holes, leave." _A thug thought as he broke into the apartment through the window, he was dressed as a stereotypical burglar to make it look like a robbery gone wrong for when the deed was done but he had back-up on the way encase he failed. _"The stupid bitch is fast asleep, well time I ended the beauty sleep, permanently." _The thug thought drawing a gun and unloading an entire clip into the hidden form, once the clip was spent he put and finger to his earpiece. "Hey boss, the bitch is dead, didn't violate her either."

"Make absolutely sure that she is dead." Victor responded and the thug blinked.

"Boss, are you sure? I unloaded an entire clip into that banging body of hers!" The thug responded as he looked towards the bed. "Last I checked the target wasn't a Krogan, it was a smoking hot chick!"

"Are you questioning my order?" Victor asked and the thug started sweating bullets.

"No sir!" The thug responded before grabbing the edge of the bedsheet. "But boss, I'm telling you this I waste of time and I WHAT THE FUCK?!" The thug yelled out as he removed the bedsheet to reveal several pillows arranged to look like someone sleeping on their side. "Boss, the bitch tricked me! I swear I'm going to kill that cu….." The thug never finished his sentence as Andrea emerged from the closet and fired a single shot from her handgun into his throat, the thug stumbled around as Andrea his earpiece.

"Hey Vic, guess what you idiot?" Andrea said into the earpiece as her biotics flared up. "My crew's flying over, you just pissed off some of the most badass freelancers on Omega!" Andrea added before hitting a roundhouse kick into the thug's stomach which, with the aid of her biotics, sent him flying across the room and out the same window he came out of shattering it in the process, Andrea heard the distinctive sound of a car alarm going off and shook her head. _"That must've been his getaway car."_

"Judging from all the commotion my plan must've been a success." Sardir's voice rang out from the visor as the Quarian appeared on the vid screen alongside Nicholai and Alicia and Andrea grinned in response.

"Sardir, for this I'm giving you one of my old stripping videos and yes, it includes a private show." Andrea told him as she glanced towards the ruined pillows. "Seriously, you are a fucking lifesaver!"

"I try my best." Sardir responded and Andrea grinned. "We should be coming into dock in the next five minutes, hacking the scanners again should be a piece of cake….."

"You really think it'll be this easy?!" Victor's voice rang out and Andrea turned towards the earpiece. "I knew you're too smart for that old trick so I'm sending in backup."

"Yeah? Well I have back-up of my own!" Andrea responded before crushing the earpiece with her biotics. "Guys, how quickly can you get here?"

"That depends on how quickly the lifesaver can hack the scanners." Nicholai responded as Sardir started typing away frantically at his terminal. "He's a Quarian so it shouldn't take him longer than a few minutes."

"Nicholai considering the situation those few minutes may as well be a few years to Andrea." Alicia pointed out with a frown. "Babe, go get changed into your armour and hold the thugs off for as long as you can, I'll see if I can use my own tech skills to help him."

"Another Quarian would be ideal but I'll take a hot babe helping me out any day." Sardir responded as Andrea went back into her closet. "By the way, how does it feel to come out of the closet for the third time in your life?"

"This is hardly the time for your fucking jokes Sardir!" Andrea responded angrily before scanning her hand and causing the closet wall to slide to the side.

"Can I at least watch you get changed?" Sardir asked and Andrea's eyes narrowed.

"Babe, how do I turn the video chat off?" Andrea asked and Alicia grinned.

"Blink twice to turn it off, blink three more times to turn it on." Alicia responded and Andrea did so despite Sardir's protests and the video chat disappeared from her view.

"_Well, this mission went to shit within two days of my arrival on the Citadel." _Andrea thought as she removed her tanktop and jeans and put her armour on. _"What's worse is the fact that C-Sec will be bound to get a shots fired call any moment now so I need to be ready."_

*meanwhile at C-Sec*

Since it was late at night most of the officers working for C-Sec would've left for their homes by now but there were a couple of exceptions, Commander Bailey tended to work longer hours due to his position in the force and, of course, the night shift workers who kept an eye on the holding cells had a job to do, tonight however there were two additional officers staying up late.

"Open mouth, insert foot." Anola sighed to herself as she filled in the paperwork, after they had returned from the scene of Cameron's murder earlier one of many bureaucrats working at the station had stopped Anola to tell her that she had done her paperwork wrong forcing her to start over. "I may be thankful for humans for introducing coffee to the galaxy but not bureaucrats."

"Anola, we both know that they existed long before humanity entered the galactic picture, they just used to be called Volus before humanity gave them an official name." Varnus reminded her and Anola laughed as she shook her head. "Seriously though, I thank the spirits every night for the fact that my in-laws both worked for Palaven PD before they retired."

"I bet, at least your wife understands that you must work long hours some nights." Anola nodded in understanding as she filled in more paperwork. "How did that come about anyway? I know the Turian military doesn't have any regulations about officers dating but I didn't think that the same applied to their police force."

"They were just high school sweet-hearts who happened to follow the same career path, nothing more." Varnus shrugged his shoulders in response. "It was my father in law that inspired me to take up this job after my time in the military was up since my wife had no interest in following in their footsteps, some might say that see made the right decision considering what we put up with on most days."

"True but it's worth it in the end." Anola responded before a message came over the dispatch radio.

"Attention all units, shots fired at 24 Kilaki Avenue, one confirmed casualty, please respond." The dispatcher said and the two officers frowned.

"I think we've had enough excitement for one night." Varnus commented and Anola nodded in agreement.

"I figured you'd say that." The two officers looked up and saw Commander Bailey approaching them. "Whilst you were out dealing with Cameron Jacobs' murder I had McKenna search for any sign of Andrea McKenzie in the official records and she found an apartment registered to a certain Michelle McKenzie." Commander Bailey added and Varnus frowned.

"Does that name sound familiar to you Varnus?" Anola asked and Varnus nodded.

"When I was digging into Andrea's history I saw that Michelle McKenzie was listed as her mother." Varnus nodded in response before his eyes narrowed. "Here's the problem, Michelle McKenzie has been dead for five years and she died in prison from cancer where she was serving a life sentence for murder."

"That's exactly the point that I was going to make and guess what? The apartment McKenna found is the apartment that the shots fired call came from." Bailey nodded in response as the two officers turned to him. "It could be a coincidence as that is a fairly common name but with everything that's happened this week I'm not about to rule anything out."

"And as officers we're not allowed to believe in coincidences." Anola nodded in response before standing up. "If a bureaucrat complains about me leaving my work unattended tell them that something more important came up."

"Will do, remember Andrea may have been attacked in her home so be ready to treat her as a victim and just in case I'll dispatch some back-up." Bailey reminded them and the two officers nodded before leaving.

*back at Andrea's apartment*

"And we're back." Sardir commented as the visor video chat came back on and the three mercs looked around the apartment. "Enclosed space, bed, sofa, not a lot of cover is there."

"There is now." Andrea responded before going over to her sofa, knocking it over with her biotics and crouching down. "Are you guys passed the scanners?"

"Just about, the only thing left to scan according to B'Tal is the crates we "borrowed" from Shonfor." Alicia responded before sighing. "I'm actually returning to the Citadel, Satan must be taking up ice skating lessons."

"I know right? Next thing we know the Quarian Government will finally remove their heads out of their asses and actually welcome my family back to Rannoch!" Sardir commented with a grunt as he typed away. "Anyway my hacking had the same effect it had when you arrived on the Citadel Andrea, as far as the scanners are concerned we're just an upstart band of merchants who hired two Krogan for protection."

"As opposed to an upstart band of mercenaries with a grudge against a mob boss." Andrea commented before getting an idea. "What's the Wi-Fi like on the ship?"

"Not bad but not great either but that might be because we were traveling through space just a few minutes ago." Sardir responded and Andrea nodded. "What are you thinking?"

"C-Sec's probably got a shots fired call by now which means that they are on their way." Andrea responded as she heard footsteps outside. "Sounds like the thugs are here so I'll be quick…."

"Can't believe that bitch got the drop on Rocco." One of the thugs commented as they approached the door to Andrea's apartment, they had been seen by several tenants in the same building but they had been scared off by the site of the thug's guns which was mostly assault rifles. "Remember guys, this lady is not only a mercenary from Omega but she's a biotic to boot, take no prisoners."

"What if we wound her, could we have some fun with her?" One of the other thugs asked with a shit eating grin on his face and the leader's eyes narrowed. "Oh come on! You saw the outfit she was wearing at the bar! If we do then we can spin it so that it would look like she was basically asking for it!"

"Need I remind you that we are under strict orders to NOT rape her?" The leader asked and the thug gulped. "Besides, Victor's daughter was killed by an idiot who thought the same thing and just used the "she was cheating on me" excuse to get around it, never mind the fact that she wasn't dating anyone at the time, and look what happened to him! I heard that C-Sec is still cleaning his brain matter of the cell walls!"

"Okay I get it!" The thug said with another gulp and the leader nodded.

"And just for that stupid idea you get to kick the door open!" The leader added and the thug grumbled some choice words under his breath before kicking at the door with all his might…..only to get four rounds to the chest from Andrea's gun before he could even draw his gun dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

"_One down, five more to go." _Andrea thought before ducking under the couch just as the remaining thugs returned fire, the firefight went on for a couple of minutes but thanks to Andrea's armour any bullets that did manage to hit her didn't hurt her. "You idiots may as well give up, C-Sec will be here any moment!"

"And we'll just tell them that we were defending ourselves!" The leader said as the rest of the thugs returned fire. "Who are they going to believe? Some thug from Omega or someone who lives here and pays our taxes."

"Guess what dumbass? This apartment was brought for me legally so all I need to do is tell them that you broke in!" Andrea responded as she waited for a break in the thugs' line of fire and when there was Andrea returned fire only for them to duck behind cover again. "I'd say just ask the idiot who broke in earlier but I'm pretty sure that they are still scraping him off the roof of his car!"

"Boss, I'm on my last clip." One of the thugs said after Andrea was done firing at them. "She already killed Rocco and Sunny and as long as she has that armour we're wasting ammo."

"Fine, switch to armour piercing!" The leader told them and the thugs complied, the thug who had spoken up waited until Andrea popped up from under her cover again and fired hitting her in the arm.

"ARGH! Shit!" Andrea cussed as she collapsed to the floor. _"Armour piercing round, off course Victor's thugs have access to that!" _Andrea thought as the leader approached her with his gun drawn. "What are you waiting for? You have me right where you want me!"

"Smartest thing you've said since arriving on the Citadel kid!" The thug taunted her as he went to fire his gun….

"C-SEC! DROP THE WEAPONS NOW!" The thugs looked up and finally realized that several C-Sec officers had poured into the room with their guns drawn, the leader looked up towards the cops giving Andrea a chance to sweep his legs and pistol whip him with her good arm knocking him out. "Who's behind that sofa?"

"I'm not armed!" Andrea called out before standing up slowly clutching her injured arm.

"Andrea McKenzie?" Anola asked and Andrea's eyes narrowed.

"In the flesh." Andrea grunted as the thugs put their arms up. "I'd put my arms up but one of these bastards managed to catch me with an armour piercing round." Andrea added and the officers looked towards each other.

"Jackson, Daniels, Sirosis, D'Sona, arrest the thugs, we'll deal with Andrea." Varnus told the other officers and the officers nodded before going around and arresting the thugs, the two officers approached the injured woman who righted the sofa with her biotics. "You realize that we have more than a few questions for you?"

"Kinda gathered that." Andrea grunted as she sat down on the sofa. "How did you figure out that I lived here anyway?"

"The apartment was brought in your mother's name, pretty impressive considering that she's been dead for five years." Varnus responded as he knelt down to look at her arm. "I know it hurts but I need to look at your wound to determine how much medigel you'll need."

"Fine." Andrea sighed before resting her good arm on her leg as Varnus tended to the wound. _"Well, at least it can't get any worse."_

"Hey Andrea, we have the info you requested! Do you want to meet us down at the docks or….oh shit!" Sardir cussed when he saw the C-Sec officers in front of Andrea and Andrea wined. "Ummm, hi there….."

"Where is that voice coming from?" Varnus wondered out loud and Andrea said nothing. "Andrea, are some of your allies from Omega on the Citadel?"

"Yeah and it's a long story." Andrea sighed before holding up her hair in order to reveal the visor. "Thanks a lot Sardir, now they know about the crew being on the Citadel."

"Okay, this is pretty bad." Sardir commented before getting an idea. "Andy, was your laptop damaged during the fight?"

"Andy?" Anola asked with a raised eyebrow and Andrea sighed.

"It's my girlfriend's pet name for me." Andrea responded before turning to Sardir. "No, they concentrated fire on your position and it was still on last I checked."

"Okay, close the video chat, I'm going to see if I can chat with C-Sec's finest." Sardir added and Andrea did so, the footage of Sardir on her visor disappeared only to reappear on Andrea's laptop. "Hi folks, never thought I'd be chatting with C-Sec officers but screw it, this is important seeing as how you'll probably arrest my boss otherwise."

"Anola, deal with the Quarian, I've got medigel to apply." Varnus told her and Sardir shook his head.

"Vid chat remember? I can chat with both of you." Sardir responded and Varnus sighed.

"Okay, fine, I'm done with Andrea's wound anyway." Varnus said as he stood up. "Don't try strain it too hard, fortunately for you the thug that shot you is a poor shot because you would've bled out by now if he wasn't."

"Thanks for the comforting thought." Andrea muttered under her breath as she gave her arm a shake. "And I didn't realize that C-Sec officers cared about thugs like me."

"We value all life Andrea, no matter how bad they've had it." Anola responded before sitting down in front of the desk and Varnus leaned in. "You must be Sardir."

"Sardir'Tryok vas Omega, at your service." Sardir introduced himself and the two officers shared a look.

"Vas Omega?" Anola asked and Sardir sighed.

"Long story involving the Quarian Government having their heads so far up their own asses that they can see their own intestines." Sardir responded as he put his hands up. "Basically we have information that might interest you, all we want you to do is wipe out any records you have of our criminal activities, including active warrants."

"Not interested." Varnus said almost immediately before standing up and going towards Andrea.

"Hear me out, what if I told you that the information I'm talking about involves another Quarian, one with a huge bounty on her head." Sardir responded and Varnus stopped in his tracks. "What was it again? Oh yes, half a million credits alive, million credits dead."

"Reya." Varnus realized as his eyes narrowed before he marched back up to the laptop. "Didn't Andrea come here to cash in on the bounty? Why the change of heart?"

"Again, long story but the gist of it is that we've come to the realization that she's not so different from us and I know how it feels to be a Quarian who's been screwed over by the system." Sardir responded and Andrea's eyes narrowed.

"Wait, you never told me this!" Andrea protested and Sardir sighed.

"Well yeah but the two officers in front of me kind of took precedent." Sardir responded and Andrea frowned. "If it makes you feel any better I'll send you a copy of the info, now what was that about you not being interested?"

"_I am not looking forward to this conversation with Bailey." _Varnus thought as he shook his head. "Before we commit to anything, what exactly are the members of the crew wanted for?"

"Okay, me personally? I've never committed a crime in Citadel Space, the only reason I live on Omega is because the Quarian Government holds a hell of a grudge against my family." Sardir responded and the two officers nodded. "The others? Andrea's crimes were committed when she was still a minor and I think it can be argued that anything that she's done since arriving on the Citadel was in Self Defence."

"I hate to admit it but he's got a point." Anola admitted with a frown on her face. "The three rapists confirmed that they targeted Andrea for one of their attacks not realizing that she can fight until it was too late."

"Yeah, knowing how to handle yourself in hand to hand combat is pretty much mandatory if you're a young woman with my good looks living on Omega." Andrea chimed in and the two officers glanced over at her. "The Mercenary stuff came later."

"Yeah, what she said." Sardir nodded in response.

"Okay but what about the guys who were shooting you?" Varnus asked as he turned to Andrea. "When we arrived you were seconds away from being killed."

"The first thug tried to kill me in my sleep whilst disguising it as a burglary gone wrong, just look at my bed if you want to know how well that ended for him." Andrea responded and the officers looked over at the bed seeing the ruined pillows and bedsheet. "He's outside."

"Outside?" Varnus asked before Andrea motioned to the shattered window, once he saw it he nodded. "Excessive but it was in defence of yourself, but that doesn't explain the blood."

"Oh that? I shot him in the throat first." Andrea responded casually and the two officers gave her an odd look. "I've lived on Omega since I was eighteen, you tend to get desensitised to a lot of stuff if you live there long enough."

"I can back her up on that." Sardir nodded in agreement and the two officers nodded reluctantly. "Anyway onto the other charges, I'm pretty sure the Krogan are wanted for typical Krogan mercenary stuff, I think Nicholai ran a Russian Mob at one point…"

"Stop." Anola said as he put her hands up. "Russian Mob? You expect us to just sweep the fact that you have a former mob boss working with you under the rug?"

"Emphasis on former, as far as I can tell he was never officially charged with running that mob, his dad was." Sardir responded before a Russian voice cleared his throat. "Or I can just let the big guy explain it himself, talk to you in a sec sweet cheeks."

"Sweet Cheeks?!" Anola asked clearly offended by what Sardir had said.

"He's like that, if you think that's bad you should hear what he calls me and Alicia." Andrea responded and the Asari gave her a curious look. "Alicia's my girlfriend."

"I'll just take your word for it." Anola sighed as the massive Russian appeared on the screen. "Nicholai?"

"That is me." Nicholai nodded as he shifted his weight. "Allow me to apologize for any offence Sardir may have caused a few moments ago, he is a pervert but he is one of the best Quarian hackers in the Terminus Systems so we put up with it." Nicholai added and Anola frowned. "So, I believe you have some questions for me?"

"For how long were you in charge of the Russian mob?" Varnus asked and Nicholai thought for a moment.

"Two months, tops, I didn't get to enjoy the position for long as my father, the previous don, was arrested just shy of my twenty birthday." Nicholai said as he leaned back. "They had no evidence that I was even remotely connected to my father's illicit dealings but from the moment he welcomed me, a bastard son of a rape victim, into his family, well, let's say that some of the stories I could tell you would give the most hardened C-Sec officer nightmares for the rest of their lives."

"_How can he be so calm when talking about stuff like that?" _Varnus thought with a frown. "How did you end up on Omega? What happened to the mob you ran?"

"I quickly realized that operating the business in my home city of Moscow was both stupid and counterproductive so I formed a plan, to expand and eventually relocate the mob's activities to Omega." Nicholai commented before frowning. "That ended up being my downfall, my group was swept up in gang warfare between the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and the Eclipse and we quickly realized that we were out of our league, I quietly disbanded the organization and continued to operate on Omega as a freelancer, I quickly gained the nickname "The Grim Reaper" because I got the job done and that brought me to the attention of Andrea and her group."

"As compelling as the story is I have to ask, why should we have you a clean slate?" Anola asked before motioning to Andrea. "As far as Citadel Space goes her only crimes were committed when she was a minor but you? You look like you're in your early thirties."

"Thirty seven, and here's the thing, even if you tried to arrest me for everything I just admitted too, those crimes were committed as far back as twenty years ago." Nicholai responded and the two officers stared at him in silence. "My father was scum, he got me started early and the only benefits to that are the fact that my biotics are roughly on par with an Asari around your age and I'm an expert marksman, and besides all that I believe Citadel Space has a little thing called a Statute of Limitations?"

"_Goddess, he's right, even if we found proof of the crimes he admitted too we'd never be able to charge him." _Anola realized as her eyes widened. "Let's say for the sake of argument that we do wipe your record, what will you do with the clean slate?"

"Visit my mother in Moscow, buy her a home here on the Wards and basically make a better life for her." Nicholai responded and the officers gave him a surprised look. "No matter what you may think of me, my mother is a good person, despite the nature of my conception she raised me the best she could, she is turning ninety years old in a couple of weeks and I think it would be a good present for her, don't you agree?"

"Getting back on track." Varnus said once the surprise wore off. "If your mother was so loving, how did your father come to be your legal guardian?" Varnus asked and Nicholai's frown deepened whilst his eyes narrowed.

"A corrupt judge, the worst legal system in Citadel Space and planted evidence." Nicholai said as he stared at the officers. "Like I said, my father was the scum of the Earth."

"Well I think that's everything we need from you Nicholai." Varnus said after a few tense, silent moments. "Can you put Sardir back on?"

"Just one thing." Nicholai said as he folded his arms. "You never answered my question."

"Question?" Anola wondered before it hit her. "You're actually serious about buying your mother a house here?"

"The only crime she actually committed was being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Nicholai responded with a nod. "It is the least I can do, she doesn't have very long to live and her home in Moscow isn't in great condition."

"Nicholai, if you are telling the truth then I believe that it would make a wonderful gift for your mother." Varnus responded and Nicholai grinned in response. "Now can you please put Sardir on?"

"I am a man of my word." Nicholai said before standing up and calling Sardir over, the Quarian sat down on the chair but Nicholai remained in the camera's view. "I shall remain and make sure that he is on his best behaviour."

"Since when am I not?" Sardir asked before realizing something. "Andrea, if you're about to make a "list longer than the Citadel Census" joke I've already thought of it."

"You're no fun." Andrea sighed she went to fold her arms only to wince in pain. "Okay, can't fold my arms yet, good to know."

"Yes, that tends to happen after you get shot in the arm." Varnus said with a deadpan tone to his voice. "Okay, we've been over you, Nicholai, Andrea and the Krogan, who's left?"

"We have two pilots in our crew, a Batarian and a Turian." Sardir responded as he leaned back. "The Batarian's never been to Citadel Space, let alone the Citadel, before today so I doubt you'll have to wipe out anything to do with him, the Turian on the other hand was a deserter who fled to the Terminus Systems to avoid capture by the military about twenty years ago, give or take." Sardir added before noticing the fire in Varnus' eyes. "What's with you?"

"Twenty years ago I was in the Turian Military and I just so happened to chase a deserter before being ordered to step down when he fled to the Terminus Systems." Varnus said as his eyes narrowed. "Could be a coincidence but as a C-Sec officer I'm not allowed to believe in coincidences."

"Wait a second." Anola said before turning to Andrea. "Did you know that you had a wanted deserter in your crew?"

"No, not really, Crarnus mostly keeps to himself." Andrea responded and Varnus' head snapped around when he heard that name. "Me and my big mouth."

"Put that son of a bitch on the line, now!" Varnus demanded and the Sardir gulped before running off.

"Varnus?" Anola asked clearly concerned for her partner.

"That man has a lot of blood on his hands and these bastards expect me to sweep it under the rug?" Varnus asked as his eyes narrowed before turning to Andrea. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't end this the video call and have you and your crew arrested for aiding a fugitive?"

"Because then you wouldn't be able to save Reya." Andrea said as she glanced at them. "I'm not ready to give you the full story yet but the guy behind the bounty, well let's just say that he's decided to cut out the middle man and is sending his own men after Reya and let's be honest, if he was able to get to C-Sec the way he did then finding were Reya's hiding should be a piece of cake for him, not only that but the moment me and my crew are arrested is the moment we're lawyering up, am I clear?" Andrea asked and Varnus clenched his fist before relenting.

"Pray to whatever god you believe in that your info is good." Varnus warned her and Andrea nodded in response. _"Never thought I'd say this about a mercenary from Omega but she would've made a great C-Sec agent if she at the very least had a decent upbringing." _Varnus thought as a barefaced Turian entered the room and his eyes narrowed. "Crarnus."

"I should've known I'd run into you here Varnus." Crarnus sighed before sitting down in the chair. "And I know what you're going to say, that I'm not fit to be a Turian."

"Your desertion in the middle of the battle with those slavers resulted in nearly every colonist on that colony either enslaved or dead and the loss of several ships including my brother's" Varnus responded as his eyes narrowed. "Andrea already gave me a reason not to arrest every member of her crew but what stops me from dragging you to the Turian Hierarchy to face charges?"

"You may not understand it but I had no choice, the Batarians had kidnapped my family and threatened to kill them if I didn't make a break for the Terminus Systems as soon as the battle began." Crarnus said before lowering his head. "You know what I found out later? Rather than let my family go they enslaved them! They claimed that they had never agreed to let them go." Crarnus added before sighing. "I was foolish for believing them."

"Why didn't you go the Turian Hierarchy? They could've organized a rescue mission." Varnus pointed out and Crarnus sighed.

"They threatened to kill them if I did and claimed that they had a mole in the Hierarchy, I later found out that they were lying about that too." Crarnus added before shaking his head. "For the record, one of the first things I did when I joined Andrea's crew was to hunt down and exterminate the slavers, I knew they were in the Terminus Systems but I didn't know where."

"Yeah, that was a long too weeks." Andrea chimed in as she shifted her weight. "But it was worth it in the end."

"You found the slaver's base?" Varnus asked and the mercs nodded.

"Sardir got lucky one day, we were just about out of fuel when he intercepted transmissions coming from a nearby planet and I recognized the voices almost immediately as it was the same Batarians that blackmailed me." Crarnus responded as his eyes narrowed. "With little fuel left and not much of a plan to go on we landed on the planet and went in there guns a blazing, it was a long tough battle but in the end I personally put a bullet in the head slaver's head."

"And what of the slaves?" Varnus asked as his eyes narrowed. "Did you sell them off to another slaver gang?"

"NO!" The four mercs shouted simultaneously catching the two officers off guard.

"Can I take this one?" Andrea asked Crarnus and he nodded. "When I formed my crew with Alicia we all agreed on three things that we would never do, sell anyone into slavery, torture someone or rape someone, too date no one in our group has broken those rules and trust me, if anyone did I would've sent them on a one way ticket out the airlock long ago, I only care about making money, not making people suffer needlessly unless they pissed me off somehow, even then we tried to keep their suffering to a minimum."

"Well there was that one Volus Merchant who smuggled Andrea's weapons, clothing and other stuff onto the Citadel by disguising it as goods to sell but he had basically tried to rip her off after she had already paid him a hundred thousand credits and I should really learn when to keep my mouth shut when it comes to stuff like this." Sardir realized what he was saying too late and the two officers immediately turned to Andrea.

"Okay first off, none of my crew were directly involved with the smuggling outside of delivering it to the merchant, second I brought the weapons in because I figured that she'd end up in C-Sec's custody and I didn't want to take any chances." Andrea responded and the two officers frowned. "Sardir, remember that threat I made to you against having wet dreams with me? Yeah, I'm going to follow through on it as soon as we leave Citadel Space."

"IF you leave Citadel Space." Varnus corrected her as he turned to her. "Whilst it was true that the only crimes you committed in Citadel Space were committed when you were underage the same can't be said if you are charged with weapons smuggling."

"And if you charge me with that I'll lawyer up faster than you can say "Rest in Peace Reya"!" Andrea responded and Varnus's eyes narrowed. "Besides, as hard as it may be for you to believe my weapons are all legal here in Citadel Space, I got them shipped to Omega through contacts here on the Citadel because I couldn't afford decent weapons."

"And before you point out that she just admitted to even more weapon smuggling." Crarnus chimed in as he cleared his throat. "Each weapon drop off was arranged by a verbal agreement, Andrea never came to the Citadel during that time period and the weapons were left on the dock for her to pick up." Crarnus added and Varnus frowned. "You may have her confession but you'd have to do a lot of stretching to prove that she did any of that in a court of law."

"How does a bunch of mercenaries on Omega know so much about Citadel law anyway?" Anola asked as Sardir stepped forward. "Didn't think the mercenaries on Omega gave a pyjacks ass about the law."

"Pyjacks ass? Isn't that a common Krogan saying?" Crarnus asked and Anola shook her head.

"Long story short, my dad's a Krogan." Anola responded and Sardir went to say something. "Got something to add?"

"A Krogan gets to bang an Asari and yet Andrea still hasn't gotten around to installing a clean room in the HQ so I can bang her, Alicia and some Asari Hookers." Sardir grunted as he folded his arms. "I swear, the universe just loves cockblocking me!"

"Or maybe the universe is just an unfair place." Varnus responded as he shook his head. "Besides, Andrea mentioned being in a same sex relationship with Alicia so I assumed that she was a lesbian?"

"I and my partner are both bi, and we're really more like friends with benefits anyway." Andrea corrected him as she shook her head. "No idea why I called her my girlfriend but that's beside the point."

"Maybe it's because the two of you tend to book weekends away at Azure for just the two of you." Sardir responded and Anola couldn't help but grin at that.

"I'm confused, what is this Azure place?" Varnus asked and Anola whispered her next sentence in his ear, once he had processed his jaw hung open for a few moments. "Why am I not surprised that an Asari colony has a hotel like that?"

"Did you suddenly forget that you're sitting next to an Asari?" Anola asked and Varnus shook his head.

"No offence was intended Anola but you have to admit, the existence of such a place does not help the common Asari stereotype." Varnus responded before glancing over at Andrea. "And quite frankly, what you do with your sex life is none of my business, I only hope that you practice safe sex on a place like Omega."

"I didn't survive on Omega for five years be being an idiot, hell no one does, take a wild guess." Andrea responded and Varnus nodded.

"Excellent point." Varnus nodded before turning to Crarnus. "If you didn't sell of the slaves then what did you do with them?"

"Unfortunately some of them where so weak that it was more merciful to kill them but thankfully that was only a small minority of the rescued slaves." Crarnus responded with a frown. "I knew I couldn't return to Citadel Space at the time so I did the next best thing, Andrea paid off one of the few decent merchants on Omega to transport the slaves to their homes and he got them home, it was the least I could do for failing in my duty."

"You have a lot to answer for Crarnus and I'm not going to forgive you anytime soon." Varnus said as his eyes narrowed. "But if you are telling the truth then I guess it makes the process of wiping your record easier to swallow, where you able to save your family at least?"

"My children were still on the colony were the slaving operation was taking place but my wife…." Crarnus sighed as he lowered his head. "She was sold into sex slavery literally the day before we found the slaving operation, we are still searching for her but as you might imagine that is like trying to find a needle in a field full of haystacks."

"But like he said, we're working on it." Sardir said as the Quarian stepped forward. "Are you satisfied? Because the more time we waste the closer Victor's men get to Reya."

"Trust me Sardir, we know." Anola sighed before nodding. "Unless Crarnus has anything else to say we're done with him but there is one other person we need to talk too, Andrea's partner." Anola said before glancing over at Andrea. "Her name with Alicia, wasn't it?"

"Yeah and she doesn't exactly have a high opinion of C-Sec." Andrea responded as she gave her injured arm a shake as the pain started to fade. "She never really went into detail but apparently she was framed for murder and had to flee Citadel Space."

"Thanks babe but I can speak for myself." Alicia's voice rang out and the officers looked up seeing Alicia by the door to Sardir's room on the ship. "I don't suppose you remember me, do you Officer Varnus?"

"Another old friend of yours?" Anola asked as she turned to Varnus who frowned.

"Not exactly, five years ago I was investigating the murder of a wealthy heiress who was found dead in her penthouse, it didn't take her family long to tell me that she was cheating on her boyfriend with another woman." Varnus responded before turning to Alicia. "The boyfriend had an alibi, he was at a business summit in Chicago at the time of the murder but you didn't, did you Alicia?"

"Actually I did." Alicia said as she stepped forward. "My alibi was that I was getting a tattoo done on my arm, ironically of Sophia's name, when Sophia was murdered but I didn't think that anyone at C-Sec would take my word over a wealthy family's."

"I would've taken your word for it if the alibi had checked out." Varnus responded before shaking his head. "But instead you fled to the Terminus Systems."

"If I can be blunt, I never liked the Citadel to begin with, way too many rules for my tastes, and I only came back here because Sardir woke me up by telling me that Andrea had pissed off some mob boss." Alicia responded and the two officers shared a look. "The possibility of life imprisonment just gave me an extra excuse…."

"Hold on a minute." Varnus interrupted her before turning to Andrea. "You pissed off a mob boss? How and who?"

"Yeah, I did, who do you think sent those thugs after me?" Andrea asked and Varnus nodded. "As for how, I heard that the bar he runs is pretty much a cheap knock-off of Afterlife so I figured I could get some info on Reya's location there, I was taken up to meet the big guy himself and we exchanged pleasantries, seemed to go well at first, until I mentioned Reya's name."

"At that point the silence in that office was so noticeable that you could hear a pin drop from across the bar." Sardir chimed in as he cleared his throat. "We're still not sure how but that made him angry enough to kick Andrea out of his bar and send people to kill her, obviously that failed."

"Before we go on any further." Anola said as she shifted her weight. "The mob boss wouldn't happen to be called Victor Steele would he?"

"How'd you guess?" Sardir asked and the two officers frowned. "Before Andrea left the bar he said that his men were dealing with Reya and that got me thinking…."

"That Victor is the one behind Reya's bounty?" Varnus asked and Sardir nodded. "And the information you have?"

"I'm good friends with a Shadow Broker agent who operates on Omega and I called in a favour, he not only dug up proof that Victor is a mob boss but he also dug up proof that he's behind the bounty." Sardir added before nodding to Alicia. "And guess what? It's not the first time I've called in a favour he owns me for one of my bosses."

"You're talking about her murder charge, aren't you?" Varnus asked once it hit him and Alicia nodded in response.

"Sardir's friend was able to get information that not only clears my name but proves that the boyfriend had hired someone to kill Sophia." Alicia said as her eyes narrowed. "You guys may recognize this name, Francisco Mancini."

"You can't be serious." Anola said as she shook her head. "The same guy who tried to kill me yesterday killed Sophia?"

"It's a small galaxy after all." Alicia commented with a shrug. "I have it on good authority that Francisco killed himself after the failed attempt on your life but at least now we can get justice for Sophia."

"Would you be willing to make a statement at C-Sec HQ to that effect?" Varnus asked and Alicia hesitated. "Look Alicia, that statement plus the evidence that Sardir compiled can ensure that Drake never gets out of prison alive and clears your name, I know you don't have the best experience with C-Sec but isn't it worth it?"

"I'll meet you by the docks, dock fifteen." Alicia responded and Varnus nodded.

"Whilst we're at it, why not kill two birds with one stone, I have over the info on Victor and the rest of us get a clean slate?" Sardir offered and Varnus thought for a moment.

"Bailey won't like it but what choice do we have? I'll meet you both by the docks, in the meantime can I close the vid chat?" Varnus asked and Sardir nodded before he did so and they turned to Andrea. "How's the arm?"

"Feeling better." Andrea commented with a frown. "What I want to know is why do you care? I came to the Citadel in the first place to kill a Quarian who's in your custody and even though those plans have changed I probably broke a few laws within minutes of stepping onto the Citadel."

"That may or may not be true but your still a civilian here on the Citadel and it is our duty to protect them especially now that your plans have apparently changed." Varnus explained before sighing. "But before we go anywhere we need to see your weapons and confirm whether or not they are legal for you to own in Citadel Space." Varnus added and Andrea sighed before standing up.

"Follow me." Andrea said and the two officers followed her into the closet, whilst Andrea scanned her hand the two officers noticed Andrea's discarded clothes on the floor.

"Not much for cleanliness I see?" Anola asked and Andrea shook her head.

"After I killed the first thug I was told by Victor that back-up was on the way, I didn't know how long I had so I had to get changed into my armour as quickly as I could." Andrea explained as the wall pulled back revealing her weapons. "And before you ask how no one's spotted this until now, you'd have to ask Sardir, I don't know the details beyond him paying off a contractor and threatening the neighbours."

"You keep suck pleasant company." Varnus said with the sarcasm clear in his voice. "Stand aside, we can't exactly scan your weapons with you in the way."

"Fine but don't be surprised if Sardir makes coming out of the closet jokes." Andrea said as she moved out of the way. "He's made a few of them since I discovered the hidden compartment."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Varnus commented dryly as they scanned her weapons.

"What can I say? He's a perverted jackass who thinks he has a sense of humour but he's also one of the best hackers in the Terminus Systems." Andrea shrugged her shoulders as she glanced around her ruined apartment. "Just wait until he meets the Asari….."

"Anola." Anola corrected her before sighing. "And after being alive for two hundred years I've gotten used to the perverted jokes." Anola added before they saw someone peeking in. "That's probably CSU which reminds me, what are you going to do now that your apartment's a crime scene?"

"Honestly? This place was never meant to be more than a temporary HQ whilst I hunted down Reya, Sardir brought the place for me." Andrea responded as she walked towards the where the door once stood. "The whole "buying the apartment in my mum's name" thing was his idea."

"Right, I can see what he was thinking." Varnus nodded in response as he looked around. _"Small apartment, inconspicuous, not far from the markets, these guys don't mess around." _Varnus thought as Andrea approached the door. "If its CSU tell them that we'll be out in a second." Varnus added and Andrea nodded.

"_Can't believe I'm cooperating with cops, let alone C-Sec." _Andrea thought with a frown as she approached the door frame and saw one of her neighbours, a much older human male, standing there. "Oh, Mr. Jackson was it?"

"Forgotten my name already young lady?" The elderly man chuckled and Andrea shook her head.

"Give me a break, it's been a pretty crazy day." Andrea responded as she glanced around her apartment. "And I'm assuming that's why you're here?"

"Yes, I heard the gunshots and I was worried, once C-Sec arrested the goons I decided to check on you." Mr. Jackson responded and Andrea frowned. "What's with that get-up? As beautiful as you are you'll never get boys looking your way in that."

"_He's obviously never been to Omega." _Andrea thought before shaking her head. "It's a long story and I was just interviewed by C-Sec about it, you had nothing to worry about."

"Really? You seem oddly calm about just being in a firefight." Mr. Jackson responded and Andrea winced.

"You don't need to worry about your neighbour sir." Varnus said as he approached the two. "Officer Varnus Travekian, C-Sec, Andrea here has had a rough evening and C-Sec is looking into it but I assure you, she is fine."

"Well if you say so." Mr. Jackson nodded in response as he turned to walk down the hall. "I'll be in my apartment if you want a chat after he's gone Andrea."

"_Yeah that's not going to happen." _Andrea thought as Mr. Jackson walked down the hall and returned to his apartment, Andrea glanced up at Varnus and sighed. "When I first moved here I tried to avoid the neighbours because I didn't exactly plan on staying long, that old guy is pretty much the only neighbour I've gotten to know and even then I only talked to him a couple of times."

"Even so it was good of him to check on you." Varnus said as he glanced at the apartment. "Any reason why he took an interest?"

"I don't know, I think he mentioned having a granddaughter or two around my age." Andrea responded as she shook her head. "Said that I was a dead ringer for the youngest one but she isn't exactly around."

"What did he mean?" Anola asked as she glanced up.

"I didn't catch all the details, something about a sex slavery ring operating on the Citadel that got busted by C-Sec but they weren't able to save all the girls, his granddaughter included." Andrea responded and Varnus frowned. "What? Were you one of the cops who busted that ring?"

"Exactly and I fought I had talked to all the relatives of the kidnapped girls." Varnus commented as he scratched his chin. "It's a long shot but maybe he has information that could help us find the girls that were already sold."

"If you want a chat with him be my guest." Andrea shrugged her shoulders with a frown. "Personally? I can't stand slavers, even before me and my crew went after the slavers who had kidnapped Crarnus's family I made a point to never except jobs from them no matter how high the price was, I may be willing to do anything for a quick credit but even I have standards."

"Well this will be one were you don't have to send your crew in to deal with it, we have a Spectre agent working with us to save the girls." Varnus responded and Andrea nodded. "Anola, Andrea, you go ahead, I'll go talk to Mr. Jackson whilst CSU does their job."

"We'll wait for you outside." Anola responded before she led Andrea further down the hallway, once they were gone Varnus walked up to Mr. Jackson's door and knocked on it.

"Mr. Jackson? It's Officer Travekian, can I talk to you for a moment?" Varnus called out to him and after a couple of minutes the elderly gentlemen opened the door.

"Please come in officer." He responded before stepping aside to let the Turian in, Varnus entered the apartment and looked around. "I'm afraid I can't offer you anything to drink or eat, I don't have any dextro products for obvious reasons."

"Its fine, I won't take up much of your time anyway." Varnus responded before walking over to the lounge area and sitting down, he looked up at the mantle and something caught his eye. "You served in First Contact?"

"And proud of it, I was one of the garrison forces on Shanxi before the Turians took over." Mr. Jackson responded as he sat down gingerly. "I try to keep fit my body isn't what it used to be, arthritis will do that."

"I understand." Varnus nodded in understanding. "My grandfather served in that same war, he disagreed with a lot of his superior's tactics but like a good Turian he sucked it up and performed his duty, I like to think I do the same with my work for C-Sec." Varnus added before turning to Mr. Jackson. "That brings me to my point, Andrea mentioned that you told her about your granddaughters?"

"Ah yes, when I first saw her I had to do a double take because she looked so much like my second youngest granddaughter and she matched her age bracket." Jackson responded before sighing. "What cued me in to the fact that she wasn't my missing granddaughter was when I saw her use biotics, none of my grandchildren are biotics."

"I see." Varnus nodded as he shifted his weight. "I know this is hard but I am one of the C-Sec Officers who worked the slavery case where your youngest was kidnapped, if there's anything you remember, anything at all, that could bring her back I'll see to it that you are reunited with her."

"That was five years ago, I'm surprised that I can remember that far back." Mr. Jackson commented before pointing to a high shelf. "Could you bring me that photo album on the top shelf please?"

"Certainly." Varnus nodded before standing up and walking over to the shelf. _"I'm surprised that books like this still exist, guess there are certain things about the past humanity couldn't let go off." _Varnus thought before grabbing the photo album, returning to his seat and opening it. "Which page do you want me to go too?"

"The one that's bookmarked." Mr. Jackson responded and Varnus, once he saw the bookmark skipped to the page, the page only had one large photo off it depicting Mr. Jackson posing happily with two young women with black hair, the older of the two women's hair was waist length but the younger of the two was what caught Varnus's attention. "They are my granddaughters, this picture was taken two months before Sophie was kidnapped, she's the girl with the shorter hair and the girl with the long hair is Rachael."

"_He's right, the resemblance between Sophie and Andrea is uncanny." _Varnus thought before he frowned. "I don't see any resemblance between Sophie and Rachael, are they stepsisters?"

"Ah yes, their father couldn't stick to one woman." Mr. Jackson commented with a frown. "I don't know how many women he's impregnated but he told my daughter that he was originally from Scotland."

"Let me guess, Edinburgh?" Varnus asked and Mr. Jackson nodded. _"Andrea has no father on record and this girl could pass for her twin, I wonder." _Varnus thought before glancing up at Jackson. "Did Sophie come with him from Scotland?"

"Yes, at first he said that she was his daughter from another marriage and his ex-wife wanted nothing to do with her, turned out that there was no first marriage." Mr. Jackson explained with a nod before sighing. "After he impregnated my daughter he left but Sophie stayed, she said that she had grown to like the Citadel too much and was tired of moving around, she was ten at the time but he didn't care." Mr. Jackson commented before turning to Varnus. "Why do you ask?"

"Just a hunch I have." Varnus responded with a frown. "Can we fast forward to when she went missing? Her mother said that she and Rachael were staying with you at the time as she had fallen ill, did she say anything about where she going that night?"

"She said that she was off to a new club on the Wards, I had never heard of it but she was eighteen by then so I couldn't stop her if I tried." Mr. Jackson responded before he started crying. "That was the last time I saw her, I should've stopped her, she'd still be with us!"

"We can get her back but I need as much information as you can give me." Varnus responded before handing the old man a tissue. "Did she name the club? Who did she hear about it from?"

"I believe it was called the Ace of Clubs, terrible pun I know but I later found out that there was no such club on the Wards." Mr. Jackson responded as he wiped his tears. "Strangely enough she said that she had heard about the club from a Krogan."

"A Krogan?" Varnus asked as his eyes narrowed. "Did she give a name by any chance?"

"Let me think…." Mr. Jackson thought for a few moments before nodding. "Yes, she did mention his name, I believe she said that she saw it on a nametag, his name was Urdnot Krek."

"_Son of a bitch!" _Varnus thought angrily before standing up. "Thank you for your time Mr. Jackson but I must get to C-Sec HQ urgently." Varnus said as he handed over a business card. "If you think of anything else call me at this number, try to call me before the late evening as that is when I normally go home and see my family."

"Off course." Mr. Jackson nodded as he took the business card and Varnus marched out of the apartment.

"_Krek was more involved than he let on, I need another chat with that bastard and this time he's telling me everything." _Varnus thought as he marched down the hallway, when he reached the elevator he pushed the button for the ground floor and activated his Omni-Tool before calling Bailey. "Bailey I know this is last minute but I need another chat with Krek."

"Judging by the tone of your voice this must be urgent." Bailey commented as his face appeared on the screen. "Is this about the slavery ring he was tied too?"

"Exactly and you will have to give Carverse a call because that bastard will need him!" Varnus responded before entering the elevator and pushing the button to close the doors. "This might be what we need to finally bring those girls home."

"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear those words come out of your mouth." Bailey commented with a nod. "Do you want to call Tidosis or should I?"

"I'll call her but only after I talk to Krek." Varnus responded before sighing. "I'll fill you in when we reach the station, besides we have a lot to go over and you might not like all of it."

"Comes with the territory, I'll talk to you at the station." Bailey responded before hanging up, Varnus sighed to himself as he folded his arms.

"_I hope Anola is ready for this." _Varnus thought as he waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor. _"First we have to deal with Andrea's crew and now this, this has been one hell of a day."_

*meanwhile*

Whilst Varnus was talking with Mr. Jackson Andrea and Anola were waiting beside the squad car for Varnus to arrive, CSU had already taken the first thug's corpse off to the coroner's office leaving only a puddle of blood surrounded by broken glass atop the car that he had used to drive to the crime scene but the two women were doing their best to ignore it.

"This was supposed to be a much easier job." Andrea grunted under her breath as she folded her arms. "Who'd have thought that killing a Quarian would be this difficult?"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Anola responded as she shook her head. "How did you find out that Reya was in Citadel Space in the first place anyway?"

"One of the benefits of being allied with a Quarian hacker." Andrea responded as she glanced up at Anola. "Once Sardir narrowed down her location to Citadel Space it became an issue of who would go after her, Alicia had that murder charge as you know and Crarnus, well you can guess why he was wanted but me? As far as Citadel Space was concerned I haven't committed a crime since I was seventeen so we figured that I'd have the easiest time accessing the Citadel."

"What about Sardir and the Krogan? I know Nicholai was a known mob boss in Russia." Anola asked and Andrea frowned.

"Sardir figured that the Quarian Government would raise a stink over an exiled Quarian being allowed onto the Citadel and besides, he may be a good shot but he's a lot more comfortable at a computer desk than he is pointing a gun." Andrea responded as she shook her head. "As for the Krogan, I'm sure you could find them tied to some kind of criminal activity but they don't really talk that much to me or any of the other members of the crew."

"Well if they are wanted for something I'm sure the scanners will pick it up." Anola commented with a frown before she realized something. "That reminds me, how did you get onto the Citadel without the scanners picking you up? Did you use the ship your friends used to get onto the Citadel?"

"I wish, it would've made things a lot easier." Andrea responded as she shook her head. "We did have a ship prior to the Reya job but it was damaged in a firefight with another mercenary gang and we were forced to crash land on a nearby planet, fortunately none of us were seriously hurt but the ship was basically damaged beyond repair." Andrea said before shaking her head. "And then we found out the hard way that the ship had crash landed on top of a Thrasher Maw nest."

"Wait, what?" Anola said as she turned to the Scottish Mercenary. "I've heard of bad luck but that takes the cake!"

"Yeah but thankfully we were able to kill the maw using what weapons we could salvage from the wreckage, after that a passing Quarian ship picked up on our distress signal and rescued us." Andrea said before laughing a bit. "Which was fortunate for Sardir because he had soiled his suit when the Thrasher Maw came up."

"You know, I really appreciate you making light of the worst possible infection I ever had." Sardir commented sarcastically as the video chat appeared on Andrea's visor. "Seriously, what's taking you guys so long? I have the info ready and Alicia's ready to testify."

"Sorry Sardir, Varnus had to chat with one of my neighbours regarding a previous case, don't know any details beyond that." Andrea responded and Sardir nodded. "If I had an ETA for you I'd tell you but at the moment? It's anyone's guess."

"Trust me, it's better that you don't know them." Anola responded as she shook her head. "Tell your friend that we'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"No need, Sardir can see and hear everything I can through my visor." Andrea responded as she glanced up at Anola. "Besides, it's like I said back in my apartment, living on Omega for any period of time desensitizes you to a lot of stuff." Andrea added and Anola frowned.

"Is that how you went from petty thief to a mercenary?" Anola asked and Andrea's eyes narrowed.

"Let me put it this way, you steal anything on Omega you may as well start writing your suicide note." Andrea responded as she folded her arms. "Omega doesn't have its own C-Sec and as a result its residents tend to settle disputes on their own, in the case of thieves that usually ends with a bullet to the head." Andrea added before shaking her head. "Hell when I first started out as a stripper I originally planned to rob Aria blind once I had enough money to buy myself some weapons and armour until Alicia pointed out how fucking stupid the idea was."

"Based on what Alicia's told me you're being generous in your description of that story Andrea." Sardir commented and Andrea frowned. "Off course if it was me I'd let you go through with that plan just to see how far you got, always got a kick out of morons getting what they deserved on Omega."

"Gee, thanks." Andrea responded as she rolled her eyes.

"I was referring to teen Andrea, not smoking hot adult Andrea." Sardir elaborated and Andrea grunted in annoyance. "Oh and the Asari wants a chat."

"Her name's Anola." Andrea corrected him before turning to Anola. "Something on your mind?"

"You started out as a stripper on Omega?" Anola asked with a raised eyebrow. "Andrea, you were seventeen when you left Edinburgh weren't you?"

"Yeah and I turned eighteen during the trip to Omega, besides I had to make money somehow and it was that or prostitution, not that it mattered since there isn't much of a difference as far as Omega is concerned." Andrea added with a frown. "Besides, I didn't go to Omega just so some perverts could stare at my tiny tits, my end goal was to save up enough money so I could get some weapons and start offering my services as a mercenary."

"And obviously you did just that." Anola responded before frowning. "Besides, your breasts aren't exactly small."

"Breast implants, Alicia was working as a stripper for pretty much the same reason as I was and she told me that having bigger tits would bring in the big bucks so she took me to Ilium and arranged for me to get breast implants." Andrea explained as she leaned back. "As big as they are now they were even bigger back then, I eventually got them reduced because of my back pain."

"There was a great disturbance in the force, as if every pervert on Omega cried out in terror only to be suddenly silenced." Sardir joked loud enough for Anola to hear getting a laugh out of the Asari, Andrea however rolled her eyes.

"Shut up Sardir, we both know you're one of the biggest perverts on Omega." Andrea responded as she glared at the video chat. "Besides it's not like I went back to being flat chested, I just went from a Triple D Cup to a D Cup."

"There are many jokes I could make about you taking triple ds at the same time." Sardir responded and Andrea grunted in annoyance.

"And if you make them I'll kick you in the balls when I get back to the ship." Andrea warned him and Sardir gulped before shutting up.

"Changing the subject." Anola commented as Andrea turned to her. "I get why you started as a merc, it was basically that or be killed, but do you ever think about what you could've done instead?"

"You mean legit work right?" Andrea asked and Anola nodded. "Occasionally, I mean me and Alicia have been talking about opening up a nightclub on Ilium but as I'm sure you're aware that's not exactly cheap, even then we won't stop the merc activities but just upgrade them, you can only go so far on Omega." Andrea said as she took a deep breath. "So yeah, I have a few ambitions, can you believe I actually wanted to be a chef as a kid?"

"You? A chef? You can't cook for shit!" Sardir commented and Andrea rolled her eyes.

"I know but a girl can dream, can't she?" Andrea responded with an annoyed grunt before shaking her head. "But those plans were quickly derailed thanks to my mum…." Andrea trailed off before looking away. "I've said too much."

"If you're talking about what your mom did when she found out that you were a biotic, I know the basics." Anola said as Andrea glanced up at her. "Want to go into detail? Varnus is taking a while."

"Sardir, I'm going to turn off the vid chat for a few minutes, don't open it back up." Andrea said and Sardir nodded before shutting off the vid chat and she sighed. "I found out about my biotic abilities when I was twelve years old, at the time my mum was in and out of prison so much that she was pretty much on a first name basis with the prison guards and as a result I spent most of my childhood with relatives in Glasgow."

"I saw the file, she was in prison around that time wasn't she?" Anola asked and Andrea nodded.

"Yeah, she was in the final year of a four year prison sentence and was released a few months later, my aunt tried to keep her away from her but when she found out about my biotics she travelled to Glasgow, broke into my aunt's house and took me back to Edinburgh." Andrea responded and Anola did a double take.

"Wait, there was no kidnaping charge on your mother's file, why wasn't she charged?" Anola asked and Andrea frowned.

"Believe me, my aunt pressed charges the moment she found out what my mum had done but she managed to avoid charges due to my aunt being conveniently absent for the trial." Andrea said before sighing. "You get no prizes for guessing what happened to her."

"She killed her own sister?!" Anola asked and Andrea nodded grimly.

"Hid her body in a shallow grave in the backyard, my aunt had never married, had no children, she figured that no one would miss her." Andrea said as her eyes narrowed. "I did, my aunt was a much better mum than my actual mum ever was, they both said that they'd support me in my biotic development but my mum had a really funny idea about what that entailed, she started bringing me to her robberies hoping that biotics would be her ace up her sleeve and, well, you're an Asari, you should know how well that went."

"An untrained young biotic who had barely even discovered her abilities? You would've been lucky to lift up a few pieces of jewellery without a nosebleed." Anola realized what she meant and Andrea nodded.

"Not that she ever got the message, every time she was released she'd bring me to another robbery attempt, each one ended the same way and Edinburgh PD never charged me because I never got involved." Andrea said before she sighed. "Then she fucked up big time, during one attempt a store clerk rushed her in an attempt to pin her down and stop her from escaping, all he got for his troubles was a bullet to the head and yeah, I was present for that." Andrea added with a deep sigh. "She was arrested and the body of my aunt was quickly discovered, I was fourteen years old at the time but the writing was on the wall."

"Yeah, I saw the file." Anola said as she shook her head. "I still don't understand how you went from that to a successful thief."

"What's there to understand?" Andrea asked with a frown. "My aunt was my nearest living relative, everyone else in my family is either somewhere in Citadel Space or living on Earth but too far away to adopt me so I went into foster care, I started robbing because my bitch of a mother never saw me as her daughter, hell I was conceived through a one night stand so she had even less reason to consider me a daughter, after she found out about my biotics she only saw me as a means to an end." Andrea said before glancing up at Anola. "When I turned eighteen I had enough of Earth, I wanted to get out and explore the galaxy but I knew the Citadel wouldn't let me in due to my record so I took the first flight I could to the Terminus Systems and never looked back."

"You don't regret it?" Anola asked and Andrea shook her head.

"Why would I? When I left Earth I was nothing but a scrawny flat chested thief with shit biotics but as difficult as life on Omega is it helped forge me into the badass you see today." Andrea added before shaking her head. "Honestly I wouldn't have even considered going after the Reya bounty if it wasn't so big, I like to at least have a challenge once in a while but at the end of the day a girl's gotta eat, off course this bounty ended up being a lot more difficult than I thought."

"Yeah, I noticed." Anola commented with a wince. "Still you ever wonder what could've happened if your mom had raised you right?"

"If she did we wouldn't be having this conversation." Andrea responded before spotting Varnus walking up to him. "The old man was a bit of a chatter box?"

"A bit but he gave me some crucial information." Varnus said before frowning. "Andrea, do you have your own car?"

"No, that was one thing Sardir never considered, luckily there's a rapid transit terminal nearby." Andrea responded as she started to walk off. "I'll meet you guys at the docks?"

"Will do." Varnus said before he and Anola entered the patrol car once they buckled up Varnus turned to Anola. "I heard you talking to her."

"Yeah, her mother's file didn't even cover half of it, she's had a messed up childhood." Anola responded with a sad sigh. "She talked about the hopes and dreams she has/had which surprised me."

"She might be a mercenary from Omega but she's still human, nothing will change that." Varnus said as he started to drive towards the docks. "Anyway, I confirmed that Mr. Jackson's granddaughter was one of the kidnapped girls but there's one other thing I found out whilst talking to Mr. Jackson, one thing that I couldn't reveal whilst I was around her." Varnus said before showing Anola a picture of Sophie. "Does she remind you of anyone?"

"She looks like she could pass for Andrea." Anola realized before her eyes narrowed. "Wait, she was eighteen at the time of her disappearance right? Which was five years ago."

"Yes." Varnus nodded as Anola handed over the picture. "Did Andrea mention her father?"

"Only in passing, said that she was the product of a one night stand so it's safe to say that she never met her dad." Anola responded before frowning. "You don't think she's related to Sophie do you?"

"It's possible but hard to confirm, I could have Fobaff run a familial check to see if they are related but in the meantime I have to have another chat with Krek." Varnus said as he drove off.

"Krek? How does he tie into this?" Anola asked and Varnus showed her his notes from the chat with Mr. Jackson.

"More than he originally let on and this time I'll be playing for keeps." Varnus added as the car sped off.


	8. Is My Friend

It was now morning on the Citadel but neither Varnus nor Anola had gotten any sleep the previous night but that didn't stop most of the Citadel from waking up including the mercenaries currently docked at the docks.

"Oh god, I needed that." Andrea moaned as she yawned, since her apartment was now a crime scene she had now re-joined the other mercenaries on the ship and needless to say it didn't take Alicia long to convince her to spend the night in her bedroom, after a night of passionate sex the two women where in bed and naked with Andrea laying on her side and Alicia laying on her back with neither woman even bothering to cover up their beasts. "Now I wish that you could've come with me." Andrea added as Alicia rolled over and started spooning her.

"You know how much I hate the Citadel babe." Alicia said with a yawn as she messaged her girlfriend's left breast. "And as much as I'd love to go for another round I do have that statement to make at C-Sec."

"I'd say "they can wait" but I know time's off the essence." Andrea said as she looked over at her girlfriend. "Besides, we can go for another round when we get back." Andrea added before the two women passionately kissed each other, the kissing continued for a few moments before Andrea started caressing Alicia's body only to be stopped. "Sorry, force of habit." Andrea said once they broke the kiss.

"You're lucky that you're so good in bed." Alicia said as Andrea rolled out of bed and started searching for her clothes. "At least you're finally getting a chance to sleep in a comfy bed again."

"Sleeping in a comfy bed is just a bonus." Andrea responded as she put her bra and panties on and used her biotics to give Alicia hers. "Sleeping with you is the main event as far as I'm concerned."

"I'll drink to that." Alicia said with a grin as she put her underwear on. "Whilst we were fucking our brains out I had the Krogan move in to your apartment and move your stuff back to the ship, it should be back in your room by now."

"Good, saves me the trouble of returning to that hellhole." Andrea responded before frowning. "You don't seriously expect me to walk around the ship in just my underwear right? Sardir won't get any work done and that's the least of our worries."

"Well if you catch him gawking you can always kick his ass." Alicia responded with a grin before finally getting out of bed, the two women kissed again before Alicia went over to her closet. "Though I guess we should be lucky that you left the visor in your room after I gave you the invite."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure that the sounds of a Quarian jacking off to our make out session would've ruined the mood." Andrea said as she left the room….only to run into Nicholai, literally. "Nicholai, did you even hear us last night."

"The whole Citadel did but that's beside the point." Nicholai responded before glancing at Alicia. "Sardir went ahead since he had no idea how long you'd be asleep for or if you started making out again so if you want to make your statement I suggest taking the rapid transit."

"If Sardir had bothered to get me a rental car we wouldn't need too." Andrea sighed as she folded her arms. "Speaking of which, what are we going to do about the payment since we're no longer going after Reya?"

"Sardir sorted that out, let's just say that Victor will have a hell of a time trying to get a decent defence team together when they arrest him." Alicia responded and Andrea grinned once she got the idea. "Meaning he transferred every credit in Victor's bank account to our joint account, that should cover the costs of everything but more importantly we can finally go through with the plans we have."

"Open The Black Widow on Ilium." Andrea responded as her grin grew wider. "And since you were a bar owner before you were forced to flee you can handle most of the business side of things."

"That's the plan." Alicia said as she put on a black crop top and a pair of jeans. "I still think that my name, The Red Thrasher, would've worked better."

"You're just mad that The Black Widow is a much better name and a better suited one." Andrea responded before Nicholai stood aside to let her go. _"Just have to endure one more day before we head back to Omega, setting up The Black Widow will take time but with the money we took from Victor we can basically retire and live like queens, but where would the fun in that be?" _Andrea thoughtas she walked down the hall.

*meanwhile*

"_Well, there it is, C-Sec HQ." _Sardir thought as he walked up to the station and looked around, there were several officers around but they were preoccupied with other citizens. _"Okay, I just need to find Varnus and get this over with."_

"That clanless stole my credit chit! Arrest him!" A Volus's voice rang out from behind Sardir and he sighed to himself.

"You know, I could've sworn that my species has its own homeworld by now." Sardir said as he turned to the Volus who was accompanied by a female C-Sec officer. "Or do you just like calling me clanless because it fits your racist views of my species?"

"You dare accuse me of being racist?!" The Volus demanded and Sardir folded his arms.

"If the suit fits." Sardir commented dryly before turning to the officer. "Lady, he's wasting your time, I literally arrived on the Citadel yesterday and I'm here for an entirely different reason, besides I've never met that idiot before in my life."

"I'll be the judge of that." The officer responded with a frown. "Why are you here anyway?"

"I'm here to see another officer, I think his name was Varnus." Sardir responded before turning to the Volus. "And trust me, what I have to say to him is a lot more important than this idiot's missing credit chit, by the way, have you looked under the couch cushions for said chit?"

"Listen here you clanless thug! I had that credit chit in my possession before you ran into me….." The Volus started and Sardir shook his head.

"When and where? Like I said, I've never met you before and I can't be the only Quarian on the god damn Citadel nowadays!" Sardir demanded and the Volus stopped in his tracks as Sardir marched up to him. "Or are you about to say that all Quarians look alike because of our suits? Because I could easily say the same about the Volus and trust me, you don't want to but on the receiving end of that pot calling the kettle black joke!"

"Okay, I've seen enough." The female officer said as she used her biotics to separate them. "Sir, I don't know where your credit chit is but what I do know is that he didn't steal it, you told me it happened in the markets so I suggest starting there before you return with another Quarian." The officer added and the Volus went to protest before marching off. "Sorry about that sir."

"I'm used to idiots like him, you'd think they'd have died out during the Reaper War thanks to everything my species did but nope!" Sardir responded with a grunt. "But there is one way you can make up for it sweet cheeks."

"Call me sweet cheeks again and I'll fine you for harassment." The officer warned him and Sardir gulped before nodding. "Let me guess, you want me to find Varnus Travekian for you?"

"You got it, tell him Sardir's waiting for him, he'll know what you're on about." Sardir responded and the officer nodded before walking off, Sardir shook his head before sitting down on a nearby bench and turning on his Omni-Tool. _"If Alicia had accompanied me to the station like we originally planned that would've been over a lot quicker." _Sardir thought as he looked over his music library. _"But no, she had to make up for lost time with Andrea! I'm surprised that any of the other crew members got any sleep given how loud their orgasms were."_

"Good morning Sardir." Varnus greeted him and the Quarian looked up. "I was expecting Alicia to accompany you."

"Yeah, about that, as Andrea said yesterday she's is a same sex relationship with Andrea and, well, let's just say that they decided to make up for lost time in Alicia's bedroom on the ship." Sardir explained as he stood up. "Surprised that the whole Citadel didn't hear them fucking each other's brains out."

"No comment." Varnus sighed as he shook his head. "Any idea how long she'll be?"

"How long is a piece of string?" Sardir asked and Varnus nodded.

"Good point, guess we'd better do you first then." Varnus responded before motioning for him to follow him and Sardir did so. "It took one hell of a shouting match between me, Anola and Commander Bailey but the records of Nicholai, Andrea and Crarnus have been wiped, Alicia's will be wiped as soon as she gets here and makes the statement."

"See, was that so hard?" Sardir asked and Varnus shook his head. "You realize that even after you guys arrest Steele that you'll need to find Reya a place to live? Unless you plan for her to sleep on the streets?"

"That's not going to happen." Varnus responded as he turned to him. "We managed to get in contact with her parents and they are looking into getting her a nice place to stay but in the meantime would Andrea object to her staying in the apartment she was using?"

"You should really be directing that question to me because I was handling the rent." Sardir responded before nodding. "If it's a temporary thing then sure, she can stay in the apartment, just send me an e-mail when she moves out so that I know when I can stop paying the rent."

"Will do." Varnus nodded as they walked down the hall. "How did you meet Andrea anyway?"

"I was just another guy on Omega trying to make a quick buck." Sardir commented with a shrug as he followed Varnus. "Problem was I was hired by the Blue Suns just after the galaxy had recovered from the Reaper War to do some hacking, except I bungled that job so badly that I ended up with the Blue Suns on my tail."

"A Quarian bungling a hacking job? Now I've heard everything." Varnus commented and Sardir shook his head.

"What can I say? As good as I am I'm not perfect and I'm bound to make a few mistakes along the way, most recently I was the one who suggested approaching Steele to Andrea and, well, you know how that ended." Sardir commented as he folded his arms. "I started running all over Omega, almost ended up like Reya but then I ended up running into an apartment that Andrea and Alicia shared at the time, problem was that they were in the middle of a make-out session and they weren't amused."

"I can imagine." Varnus commented with a chuckle. "What happened next?"

"Once they stopped throwing pillows and sex toys at me I explained that I was hiding from the Blue Suns, didn't think that the two hot babes in front of me would do me much good at the time but that changed when they grabbed their weapons and armour pretty much telling me that they just wanted to defend themselves." Sardir added as he folded his arms. "I may be a hacker but I'm a decent shot so I grabbed my handgun and helped them out, it was a seven hour standoff but one Quarian and two human women were able to defeat an entire squad of Blue Suns, I ended up being the first recruit into the crew that they were putting together and after we recruited the Krogan we took their local HQ."

"The Blue Suns' numbers did suffer during the war, didn't think that they suffered that much though." Varnus commented and Sardir shook his head.

"Defeating an entire squad did not help their situation on Omega, nowadays they are hardly a blip on Aria's radar but the crew? Well let's just say that we've done odd jobs for Aria from time to time." Sardir commented as he grinned under his helmet. "Basically, what started out as two former strippers, a Quarian Hacker and two Krogan quickly became one on the most in demand mercenary groups on Omega and the Terminus Systems, and we keep growing by the day, could almost be a TV movie."

"Well if you do sell the movie rights at least let me and Anola know so that we can collect royalties." Varnus responded before stopping in front of an interrorgation room. "We'll take your statement in there, Bailey and Anola are waiting." Varnus added and Sardir nodded before entering the room and looking between the two officers.

"Ever heard of three's a crowd?" Sardir chuckled as he sat down. "I'm pretty sure that Varnus and Anola can handle themselves."

"Trust me, they can, but after everything you and your gang pulled and considering who this statement is about I wanted to be present for it." Bailey responded as he stepped forward. "Please state your name for the record."

"Sardir'Tryok vas Omega." Sardir responded before noticing the confused look on Bailey's face. "This is about the "vas Omega" thing? It's a long story."

"Varnus and Anola filled me in on the basics, you're from an exiled Quarian family and the Quarian government hasn't let you back onto Rannoch for reasons your unaware of." Bailey responded and Sardir shook his head.

"Oh trust me, I know exactly why my family's exiled, my great, great, great, many more greats, granddad dabbled in developing AI tech and was found out, I don't know the details but they exiled him quicker than you can say "Geth Uprising"." Sardir responded before sighing. "Normally they'd let the kids of an exiled Quarian back into the flotilla but for some reason they made an exception in my family's case, they told my grandmother that, in no uncertain terms, my family would never see Rannoch."

"That makes no sense, why hold a grudge for that long." Anola commented and Sardir shook his head.

"If I knew I would've told them to stick the exile straight up their asses long ago," Sardir responded before leaning back. "Onto the topic at hand, where should I start?"

"How about from the beginning? How did Andrea's crew find out about the bounty?" Varnus asked and Sardir sighed.

"Another crew of mercenaries had pissed us off by claiming responsibility for a high paying job in the Horse Head Nebula that we were working on." Sardir said as he shifted his weight. "At the time we still had our original ship so we tracked them down and boarded them, now originally it was just going to be a quick cash grab and leave the crew alive with the intent of sending them a message, however we stopped on Ilium to top up on fuel and one of the Krogan happened upon a certain young Quarian with a huge bounty on her head, naturally they tried to claim it but Reya escaped and we thought that was the last we'd see of her."

"Until you saw her on the ship." Anola responded and Sardir nodded. "I don't get it, Reya said that she saw the ship blow up as she escaped yet you say that you wanted them alive."

"Yeah, we did, unfortunately the Krogan decided to be stupid around the drivecore and before we knew it the ship was moments away from blowing up, we didn't have enough time to save the crew so we settled for saving our asses and hoping that Reya's escape pod was caught in the blast, obviously that didn't happen and that led Andrea to the Citadel." Sardir added before sighing, "Off course, getting onto the Citadel is about as easy as a Rubik's cube so we returned to Omega to plan a course of action."

"And as Andrea told me yesterday it was determined that she would have the easiest time getting onto the Citadel since her only offences were committed when she was a juvenile." Anola commented and Sardir nodded. "How about we fast forward a bit? How did you find out about Victor Steele?"

"Andrea was the one who found out about him through her contacts here on the Citadel." Sardir responded as he folded his arms. "Basically she said that she had heard about a couple of morons in C-Sec custody who got killed and broken out respectively."

"You mean Jared Black and Cameron Jacobs." Varnus responded and Sardir nodded. "That doesn't exactly matter since Cameron was found dead later that day."

"Sounds like the idiot got what he had coming to him." Sardir commented with a chuckle. "Before you say anything, people on Omega don't exactly have a high opinion on the idiots you guys arrest and yeah, that extends to Ilium, basically we think that anyone dumb enough to get caught for, say, raping and murdering a mob bosses' daughter and not in the process of fleeing to Omega deserves everything they get."

"And if said idiot is innocent?" Bailey asked and Sardir shrugged.

"If their innocent then we hope for their sake that they can prove it, well, the ones who give a flying fuck anyway." Sardir responded before shaking his head. "Like I said, on Omega the only thing people care about is survival of the fittest, no one lasts a significant amount of time on Omega by being an idiot, anyway back on topic, I suggested to Andrea that she go visit the bar and see what she could find out, she asked about bounties, got directed to the guy who runs the place and it was downhill from there."

"I read the reports on the shootout at her apartment last night, she was lucky that Varnus, Anola and the other C-Sec Officers got there when they did." Bailey responded with a frown. "In your own words, tell us what happened in detail."

"Right, so after she got into the club she went up to the bar and asked about bounties, the guy promised to get the boss to send someone down but said that it might take a few minutes due to them being low on staff, now I know why." Sardir responded as he folded his arms. "To pass the time Andrea asked for a menu, looked like fairly typical stuff apart from the fact that I couldn't see any dextro items."

"The place likely has a separate menu for Turians and Quarians." Varnus responded and Sardir nodded.

"That's pretty much what Andrea was thinking, she was about to order a burger but never got the chance as someone from the office approached her." Sardir said before chucking. "I still can't get over the guy's ridiculous name, Thomas Hammer."

"Yeah, we know of him." Anola nodded in response. "I'm assuming that she was taken up to the office?"

"Yeah, she was the only chick in the office and I was half expecting them to ask if they could use a gang-bang as payment." Sardir responded before shaking his head. "Things were pretty professional at first, she exchanged pleasantries with Victor, they talked for a bit, and then she mentioned Reya's name."

"Yeah, that part was also mentioned in the report." Bailey nodded in response. "Things got pretty hostile in there, right?"

"Too say the least, after Victor told her that his men were handling the bounty Andrea was pissed and quite frankly I couldn't blame her considering all the risks we took setting the operation up, however Victor wasn't backing down and we, meaning me and Nicholai, told her to get out ASAP and she did." Sardir responded before activating his onmi-tool. "So, shall we go over the info I've gathered."

"Just hand it over on a data disk and we'll have someone in Cyber Crimes go over it, confirm that it's legit." Bailey responded and Sardir nodded before downloading the data to the disk, whilst that was going on the door opened and another officer entered.

"Sorry to interrupt but two women are asking for you Bailey." The officer said as Bailey turned to him. "This might be your lucky day because they are smoking hot and single as far as I can tell."

"Let me guess, one's Scottish with shoulder length black hair and one's Irish with elbow length dark brown hair and tattoos?" Bailey asked and the officer nodded. "Sounds like Andrea and Alicia have arrived, Varnus, do you want to handle Alicia?"

"Will do." Varnus nodded before leaving the interrogation room. "Have Krek brought to an interrogation room by the time I'm done."

"Will do." Bailey nodded as Varnus, Sardir and Anola left the room.

"Sorry for the wait." Alicia commented once she saw the officers. "We decided to have a make-out session in my bedroom on the ship and well, I think you know the rest."

"Err, I stopped paying attention when she said that they had a make-out session." The male C-Sec officer commented and the two women laughed a bit whilst Bailey shook his head.

"Lucas, get back to your desk before they file a sexual harassment suit against you." Bailey responded and the young officer gulped before nodding. "Alicia, Varnus will see you in room two, Andrea, honestly I don't know why you're here."

"I'm just here to make sure Alicia and Sardir get back to the ship in one piece." Andrea responded and Varnus went to say something. "Sure, their safe in C-Sec HQ now but what about after they leave? All it will take is one ambush from Victor's goons and my crew loses two of its most valuable members."

"She's got a point." Bailey nodded in response. "And judging by that I'm assuming that you have other crew members outside?"

"Nicholai and Crarnus chose to wait outside, mostly because Crarnus was worried that Varnus would greet him with a punch to the face." Andrea responded and Varnus nodded.

"He had a right to be worried, as for you Andrea, if you don't have anything else to do then wait in reception, we'll be done with your girlfriend soon." Varnus responded and Andrea nodded before sharing a quick kiss with her girlfriend and leaving. "Sardir's already given his statement, we just need to talk to you."

"Off course." Alicia nodded before she was led into an interrogation room by the Turian. "Did you check my alibi?" Alicia asked once the door closed.

"Yes, I called the tattoo parlour and they confirmed that you were getting a tattoo done at the time of death." Varnus nodded as he sat down and invited Alicia to take a seat. "If you had just done that from the beginning this case would've been solved years ago."

"Maybe but I didn't get the info I needed to prove that Drake had hired someone to kill Sophia until after I left, if anything my departure just made your job a lot easier." Alicia responded as she sat down. "That and I never would've met Andrea and turned into the badass I am if I did leave."

"You don't know that for certain, Andrea could've found out about the bounty without you." Varnus commented with a frown. "As for your combat skills, well there are self-defence and shooting classes on the wards."

"You're a Turian, so I'm guessing that you were in the military?" Alicia asked and Varnus blinked before nodding.

"Yes, served twenty years in the military before I left to start a family." Varnus nodded in response as his frown deepened. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Then tell me, in your experience what's the better teacher, getting taught something or learning from experience?" Alicia asked and Varnus paused.

"I'd have to say learning from experience." Varnus responded before it hit him. "I see what you mean, the harsh environment of Omega must've been a great teacher in that regard."

"All I'm going to say to that is this, no one survives for more than a day on Omega by being an idiot." Alicia responded as she flipped her hair back. "Back to the topic at hand, should I start from the top?"

"Yes, please do." Varnus nodded as he started taking down notes. "Okay, as we've already established, you were getting a tattoo done at the time of the murder."

"Yeah, I was in that parlour for about two hours give or take." Alicia responded as she shifted her weight. "In hindsight it was one of my biggest wastes of times ever since the tattoo was of Sophia's name."

"Yes, you mentioned." Varnus nodded in response as he wrote it down. "Did you get it removed?"

"Yeah, got a tattoo of Andrea's name done since then." Alicia responded as she showed him the tattoo, it was a generic heart tattoo with Andrea's name across the middle. "I was a bartender at the time so I had to save up a couple of pay checks to get the work done and at the time it seemed to be worth the wait."

"That reminds me, how did you meet Sophia?" Varnus asked as he checked the file. "Your file says that you were in the Alliance military for a couple of years whilst they paid for your college tuition?"

"My parents managed to get that set up, I was a bit of a military brat." Alicia responded as she grinned a bit. "I know that's not unusual for you since military service is mandatory for Turians…."

"Yes but I also know that not all aliens have that trait." Varnus responded and Alicia nodded.

"Anyway the college they set me up in had a biotics course which I took alongside a business management course, problem was that I never got a chance to use my biotics in battle because they were more interested in my tech abilities, in fact my main course in college was a computers one." Alicia added as she sighed. "I met Sophia on the business management course, like you said she was a heiress and her folks wanted to make sure that she knew what she was doing before she took over."

"Makes sense, how did you start dating her?" Varnus asked and Alicia sighed.

"Despite our different upbringings we got along great, eventually she started inviting me to her dorm room for, well she called it a late night study session but the only thing we were really studying was how fun experimenting in college was." Alicia responded as she shifted her weight. "After the first time she told me point blank that it couldn't be any more than a friends with benefits situation, she already had a fiancé by then."

"You mean Drake?" Varnus asked and Alicia nodded. "That must've upset you." Varnus commented and Alicia frowned.

"If you're trying to say that I had a good motive for hiring someone to kill her then don't, I was still unsure of my bi-sexuality at the time and I understood why she didn't want things to get too serious." Alicia added before sighing. "But things did get serious in the end, when I finally figured out that I was Bi I figured that I needed to come out of the closet quickly, problem was that I was scared about how my parents would react so I decided to tell Sophia first."

"I see." Varnus commented with a nod. "When did things start getting serious?"

"It was about two weeks after Sophia helped me come out as bi to my parents, thankfully they were supportive of me, things continued as normal and by then I had completed all my courses and was about to graduate." Alicia responded before sighing. "After one of our study sessions Sophia dropped a bombshell, she wanted to leave Drake for me and I didn't know what to think at the time but I eventually decided to go with it, unfortunately Drake sped up in the process."

"He walked in on one of your study sessions, didn't he?" Varnus asked and Alicia nodded.

"He was supposed to be out of town at the time, so to speak off course, but he came back a day early intending to surprise Sophia, if anyone got surprised it was him." Alicia responded as she sighed. "Sophia used the opportunity to break off the engagement, she basically told him that she was no longer in love with Drake and that I was a much better lover than he ever was."

"That must've bruised his ego." Varnus responded with a frown. "He went to the business summit not long afterwards right?"

"He wasn't meant to leave for another week but he basically used the summit as an excuse to get away from Sophia and, as I found out later, give him a convenient alibi for when Sophia was found dead in her penthouse." Alicia said before sighing. "By then I had graduated with Masters Degrees in business and IT and a minor in biotics and I was getting ready for my life with Sophia, she had told me that she would provide the finances for me to open my own bar on the Wards after I left the Alliance and I decided to get the tattoo to cement our relationship." Alicia said before letting out a heavy sigh. "Two hours later I got the worse phone call of my life, Sophia's mum called to tell me that Sophia had been found dead."

"Yes, I have the coroner's report here." Varnus said as he retrieved the data. "Her cause of death was a gunshot to the head at point blank range, there were signs of sexual assault as well."

"Yeah and she had the balls to tell me that no one would believe my story, I still can't believe I fell for it." Alicia said with an annoyed sigh. "It was at that point that I fled, in a way it was the worse decision of my life but it did lead to me meeting Andrea so I guess it's not all bad."

"I guess not." Varnus responded as he finished writing his notes. "Sardir sent us the info he had gathered on Victor, do you plan on doing the same?"

"Off course." Alicia said as she sent the info over. "You can have your guys check it but I can assure you, the info's good."

"If it is then Sophia will finally see justice." Varnus said as he stood up. "You are free to go, don't leave the Citadel until we confirm that the info you provided us is legit."

"Don't plan too." Alicia said as she started to leave. "Besides, there is one bit of unfinished business I want to attend to, I never attended Sophia's funeral so I want to visit her gravesite."

"I'll be happy to provide you with the graveyard's address." Varnus commented and Alicia grinned. "Problem is that it's on the Presidium, I don't think they'll let you up there."

"Son of a bitch." Alicia cussed under her breath as she stood up. "I'll think of something." Alicia added before leaving the interrogation room, Varnus followed her out and McKenna approached him.

"Good news Varnus, the info checks out." McKenna said with a grin which Varnus returned. "You ready to get that son of a bitch?"

"Not yet, I have more info for you to check." Varnus responded as he showed her the info. "I have one last person to chat with so get me the info by the time I'm done."

"There's more, Bailey finally got the warrants you wanted, the other gang members? They said under oath that their gang had ties to Victor's mob before C-Sec busted it up." McKenna added and Varnus frowned. "I doubt Reya knew anything about that before the trial, otherwise I think she would've mentioned it to Anola."

"She didn't." Anola nodded in response. "Anything else?"

"I think she told us enough and besides, those ties give Victor motive for putting the bounty on Reya's head." Varnus responded before entering the interrogation room where Krek and Trollik were waiting. "Seems that we can't avoid each other."

"What the hell is this about? I told you everything!" Krek demanded as Varnus marched into the room. "And I've already helped you guys out with the break-in so I doubt that that is what this is about."

"You weren't being entirely truthful." Varnus said as he sat down. "You told me that you were just a hired mercenary for the slaver ring, turns out that you weren't telling the whole truth."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Krek demanded and Varnus's eyes narrowed.

"I discovered a new witness, the grandfather of one of the girls you kidnapped." Varnus said as he showed him his notes. "Sound familiar?"

"Yeah, I directed the girls to the warehouse where they were snatched up by my colleagues….." Krek said before his eyes widened. "Oh shit…."

"Not another word Krek." Trollik said as he turned to Varnus. "That information could land my client in federal prison with the other slavers, what's the offer?"

"Offer? I thought I made it clear that there was no offer?" Varnus asked as his eyes narrowed. "Being as high up as you were in the chain of command you must know where the girls were sent off too when they were sold, I want the info."

"Why should I help you?" Krek asked and Varnus frowned.

"Because if you don't then you'll rot in prison with the other slavers." Varnus said as he glared at him. "You've put their families through enough torment, the least you can do is let them see those girls again."

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Krek asked as his eyes narrowed. "Trollik, there's a datapad on the table in my cell, it has the info he needs."

"Why wasn't that looked at when you were being moved?" Varnus asked and Krek shook his head.

"You'd have to take that up with the idiots working the cell-block." Krek responded and Varnus nodded before standing up and leaving.

"Bailey, have someone go into Krek's cell and retrieve the data-pad inside it." Varnus said as Bailey turned to him. "It has the info we need to bring the girls home."

"It's about damn time." Bailey said with a nod as he called another officer over. "Alicia's info panned out, officers are moving in to arrest Drake for Sophia's murder and all charges against Alicia have been dropped."

"Excellent." Varnus nodded with a grin before realizing something as the officer ran off towards the cell. "Where are Andrea, Alicia and Sardir?"

"They left once the charges were dropped, said that they felt that there was no point in staying on the Citadel any longer." Anola answered him and Varnus nodded as the officer ran up with the info. "Now let's hope this info pans out."

"We'll see." Varnus said as he read the info, once he was done he sighed in relief. "The names of the girls match up as do their ages when they were sold off." Varnus said as he showed the info to Anola. "Bailey, I think we're ready to arrest Victor."

"I'll have the arrest warrents ready within the hour." Bailey responded and Varnus nodded before walking off. "Where are you going?"

"I have a phone call to make, one that I've waited five years to do." Varnus responded as he walked off.


	9. Epilogue

A few hours had passed and since the mercenaries made their statements several arrests had been made on the Citadel, however that was the last thing on Varnus Travekian's mind as he sat down in front of his desk.

"_It has been a long week." _Varnus thought as he picked up the phone and started dialling a number. _"But we've put one of the Ward's biggest crime bosses behind bars and solved the murder of Sophia Kensington, just one last thing to sort out." _Varnus thought as he waited for the video call to go through and after a few moments a female Turian with red facial marks appeared on screen. "Hello Tidosis."

"Ah, Officer Travekian, it has been too long." Tidosis greeted him warmly. "How is your family?"

"They are well, the youngest is starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks' time and the oldest is still in high school, my wife is well too." Varnus responded before sighing. "But I didn't call just to chat with you."

"C-Sec rarely calls active Spectres just to chat." Tidosis nodded in agreement as Varnus shifted his weight. "Is this about the slaving ring?"

"Yes, you won't believe the week I've had but I have good news, I just sent the file to your e-mail address." Varnus added and Tidosis checked her e-mail. "I realize that it's a longshot but have you had any luck on your end?"

"I wish I could say I have but so far every promising lead I've found ended up being a dead end." Tidosis sighed sadly as she downloaded the document, once she read it her face lit up. "Spirits, Varnus, is this what I think it is?"

"It is, that list came from a mercenary who was pretty high up in the chain of command." Varnus responded with a nod and Tidosis grinned. "Just one last thing, I have a hunch about one of the girls, Sophie Jackson?"

"Yes, what about her?" Tidosis asked once she saw the picture.

"It's a long story but I met a Scottish Mercenary from Omega called Andrea and, well, she could pass for her twin." Varnus explained and Tidosis nodded. "It's a longshot and I realize that you have work to do."

"I seem to remember the girl not having a dad on record, correct?" Tidosis asked and Varnus nodded. "I'm going to have to make DNA comparisons to confirm that these girls are the ones that I've been looking for anyway, do you have a DNA sample from Andrea on file?"

"We do, courtesy of Edinburgh PD, I'll send you the DNA sample as soon as I can." Varnus responded and Tidosis nodded.

"My ship will be docking soon to refuel, you can send it to me then." Tidosis responded before she grinned. "But honestly? I'm more interested in finally putting this behind me."

"You're not the only one." Varnus responded with a nod before he checked the time. "I have to go, I have at least five suspects to interrogate and whilst Anola is helping me it'll take time."

"I understand, you'll be the first to know when I find these girls." Tidosis nodded in understanding before she hung up and Varnus stood up.

"_This will be a long day." _Varnus thought as he walked down the hall.

*two weeks later*

The docks were busier than ever as today was the day that the kidnapped girls were being returned home and their families were waiting on the docks eager to see their family members again.

However things were not all as they seemed.

"Tidosis, you wanted to see me?" Varnus asked as he stepped onto the Spectre's ship, it was a fairly large ship but the crew was more of a skeleton crew.

"Yes, come with me." Tidosis said as she led the C-Sec officer into a nearby elevator, once the doors closed behind them she pressed the button for the cargo hold. "I've been keeping the girls in the cargo hold, it made the most sense since it is the largest area of the ship."

"Yes, unfortunately they did sell off a lot of girls before we stopped them." Varnus nodded in agreement before frowning. "You wouldn't have called me to your ship to tell me that."

"Yes, there was a problem." Tidosis said with a sad sigh. "One of the girls, well, she was sold off to a mercenary gang with their own ship who chained her to a bed in a small room in the ship and gang raped her after every successful mission." Tidosis added before letting out a heavy sigh. "That had been going on for five years."

"Spirits!" Varnus exclaimed once it hit him. "What happened?"

"I found their ship and boarded it, killed the mercenaries after I found out where they kept the girl, when I found her she was basically skin and bones, had a blindfold and a gag on, apparently because the mercenaries didn't think that she'd attract the attention of a Spectre." Tidosis said as she shifted her weight around. "When I removed her gag it quickly became obvious that she had lost her mind long ago and all it took was one look at the state her body was in to be able to tell that there was no way that she'd made it to the Citadel so I did the kindest thing I could do for her and put a bullet in her head."

"From the sounds of it that was the only thing you could go for her." Varnus said with a sad sigh as he lowered his head. "What about the other girls?"

"Fortunately I found them in much better condition than I found her, I don't know how they are mentally speaking but physically they are fit and healthy though the fact that I've had my ship's chef feed them at the same time as the rest of my crew helped." Tidosis explained and Varnus nodded in response. "The girl you mentioned, Sophie? She seems to be doing the best which reminds me." Tidosis added before handing over a data-pad. "Here are the results on the DNA comparison between Andrea and Sophie."

"I see you didn't use the DNA sample we took from her bedroom when she was first reported missing?" Varnus commented and Tidosis shook her head.

"I don't know what happened to that DNA sample but it got contaminated somewhere along the chain of command, such a thing would never have happened if I was still in C-Sec but I was able to get a new DNA sample from her." Tidosis responded with a nod and Varnus frowned.

"As a former C-Sec officer you should know that accidents happen and from what I remember Sophie's disappearance was Fobaf's first case." Varnus commented as he folded his arms. "And do I even want to know where you got that new sample from?"

"I anticipated that question considering the horrors that those girls have endured for the past five years." Tidosis said before shaking her head. "But you needn't worry, even if I wanted to use a DNA sample from where I found her she was a part of a warlord's harem and far from the only sex slave in his employ so that sample would've been contaminated as well." Tidosis responded with a frown. "Instead I used the old C-Sec technique of taking DNA from her hairbrush, it was standard procedure with all the girls really because I needed to confirm that they were the girls I was looking for."

"And you wouldn't be here if they weren't the girls who were sold off." Varnus commented and Tidosis nodded.

"Well that and I would've had to return the other girls to their homes." Tidosis responded as she folded her arms. "Not that I didn't do that off course."

"Off course." Varnus nodded before reading the results, once he read them he nodded. "If you plan to show the results to Andrea don't, she left the Citadel two weeks ago and we haven't heard a peep from her or her crew since."

"Finding a mercenary gang on Omega shouldn't be that difficult." Tidosis responded as Varnus handed over the data-pad. "Besides, with this mission complete my case load is clear until the council finds something for me to do so I have plenty of time, in the meantime I think the girls have been on my ship long enough." Tidosis added as the elevator doors opened. "Would you like to be present for the reunion?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Varnus commented with a nod as he followed the younger Turian out of the elevator and looked around, the girls where all sitting around and were wearing ragged clothing, likely the clothing Tidosis had found them in. "You couldn't get clean clothing for them?"

"Only a small portion of my crew are humans and they're clothes didn't exactly fit." Tidosis responded before turning to the women. "Attention everyone, it has been a long five years for all of you but I have good news." Tidosis said as she pushed a button on her Omni-Tool and the cargo bay doors opened. "You are home." Tidosis added and the girls cheered once they realized what she meant, once the doors opened Tidosis turned to them. "Your parents are waiting for you on the docks but if you see Tracy Fetcher's parents tell them to meet me on the ship." Tidosis added and the girls quickly started pouring out.

"Tracy Fetcher, she's the girl that didn't make it I take it?" Varnus asked and Tidosis nodded.

"I brought her remains with me, I thought that the least I could do was let them give her a proper burial." Tidosis responded and Varnus nodded.

"Then let me fetch them, I think the girls will be more interested in reuniting with their parents." Varnus responded and Tidosis nodded before Varnus left the ship, he looked around and had to admit that seeing the girls embrace their families brought a tear to his eye especially Sophie's reunion with her adopted family, when he saw two parents looking around for their daughter he approached them. "Excuse me, are you Tracy Fetcher's parents?"

"Yes, can I help you?" The dad asked when he looked up and Varnus sighed.

"Follow me, this is something that I'm not comfortable sharing with you out in the open." Varnus added and the parents nodded before following him. _"This won't be easy on them but at least this case is finally behind me." _Varnus thought as he led them onto the ship.

*meanwhile*

What was Anola up too whilst Varnus was reuniting the girls with their families? Well after the week they had Bailey had granted Varnus and Anola two weeks off and this was her final week before returning to work, however Anola did have one last thing to wrap up.

"_Where is she?" _Anola wondered as she looked around, she was currently in a small café on the Wards that wasn't too far from C-Sec HQ and she was waiting for someone to meet up with her. _"Come to think of it, didn't my first meeting with Reya start like this? Small galaxy after all." _Anola thought as she looked around.

"Sorry I was late." Reya's voice rang out and Anola looked up seeing the young Quarian standing in front of her, she sat down in the chair and Anola grinned. "So, with Victor behind bars, is my bounty off?"

"There's no one left in his organization to pay for the bounty so yeah, it's off." Anola nodded in response and whilst she couldn't see Reya's face due to her helmet she could tell that she was grinning broadly at the news. "How are you finding your new apartment?"

"It's great, a lot better than the first apartment." Reya responded and Anola grinned at that. "I just have to put a CV together so I can start finding work."

"You won't need too." Anola responded and Reya looked at her confused. "You remember the Quarians who were working in the Cyber Crimes division? Well a position has just opened up and I managed to talk McKenna into hiring you."

"Seriously?" Reya asked and Anola nodded. "That was all I wanted from the start, a job so I could make my own living, I can't thank you enough!"

"Don't worry about it, the older Quarians will take good care of you and we'll see each other frequently." Anola responded and Reya nodded. "Whilst we're here, do you want to get something to eat?"

"I'm starving so yeah, why not?" Reya asked rhetorically and Anola grinned as she grabbed them a couple of menus.

*two days later on Omega*

Since they returned from the Citadel Andrea and her crew had been hard at work getting the Black Widow nightclub set up, in that time they had managed to find a building that would be perfect for the nightclub and they were shopping around for a construction company to do the work for them.

"Okay, these guys have a pretty reasonable price." Sardir commented as he typed away at his laptop. "But looking at their history, well they are notorious for cutting corners."

"Pass on them then." Alicia responded as she looked up construction companies and Andrea sighed in annoyance. "We'll get their eventually babe, we're just trying to get the best deal and not turn The Black Widow into a hellhole."

"I know, I just wish that there was a way to speed it up." Andrea responded as she rested a hand on her chin. "You heard from those C-Sec officers we helped out?"

"Not really." Sardir commented as he folded his arms. "My guess is that they've been busy with C-Sec things."

"Is that terminology right out of the C-Sec handbook?" Andrea joked and Sardir laughed.

"Yeah, right alongside "Forensic Thingiemabob"." Sardir joked and the mercenaries laughed as Nicholai entered the room with a frown on his face. "Something troubling you big guy?"

"There's a female Turian at the door." Nicholai responded and the mercenaries looked up. "She's asking after you Andrea."

"Maybe she heard about the crew and wants to join?" Sardir suggested and Nicholai shook his head.

"I doubt it, she was armed but the weapons she was armed with aren't the kind that you can get in the Terminus Systems." Nicholai responded before Andrea stood up.

"Ah what the hell?" Andrea responded as she stood up. "I have nothing better to do." Andrea added before leaving the room, heading to the front door and seeing Tidosis. "You wanted to see me?"

"Andrea McKenzie?" Tidosis asked and Andrea nodded. "Tidosis Mirani, I'm with Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

"A Spectre?!" Andrea asked and Tidosis nodded. "Okay, what brings a Spectre agent this far from the Citadel? Does this have anything to do with my trip there two weeks ago?"

"Yes and no." Tidosis said as she reached into her pocket and handed Andrea a data-pad. "Read this, you might find this interesting."

"Okay…." Andrea trailed off as she read the data, however when she read it she scowled. "What the hell is this?! Is this some kind of joke?!" Andrea demanded as she looked up only to realize that Tidosis had already left. "Nicholai, did you see where she went?"

"No I didn't." Nicholai responded and Andrea frowned. "What info did she give you?"

"It's a long story." Andrea asked before marching back into the office and dropping the data-pad in front of Sardir. "Sardir, how badly do you want to see my old stripping vids with a private show attached?"

"Is that a trick question?" Sardir asked and Andrea shook her head.

"Call your Shadow Broker agent friend and have them send over every piece of information the Broker has on Tidosis Mirani and the girl on the left!" Andrea added as she folded her arms. "I'll even pick up the slack in looking for a construction company but if you do this then you will get the whole show, I'll even throw in a three-way I had that involved me, Alicia and an Asari client!"

"Yes ma'am!" Sardir said ecstatically as he started making the call whilst Andrea sat down next to Alicia.

"What's got you so worked up?" Alicia asked and Andrea frowned.

"According to that data-pad I have a sister on the Citadel that I never knew about until now!" Andrea responded and Alicia did a double take. "And if that info is correct than I intend to get in contact with her."

"And then what?" Alicia asked and Andrea shook her head.

"For one thing it'll get me a step closer to finding my dad." Andrea responded as she folded her arms. "But on the other hand that girl's been through hell for five years, she might need help from an older sister."

*Varnus, Anola and Andrea's crew will return in A Mood In Blue*


End file.
